Operation Big Bang gave Voyager 2 at least another year of scientific activity

NASA engineers simultaneously replaced several power-hungry devices with more energy-efficient alternatives, without compromising the temperature of the 49-year-old spacecraft. The three remaining scientific instruments will be able to continue exploring interstellar space for at least another year.

Nearly 49 years after its launch, NASA has found a way to extend the scientific life of Voyager 2. Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, reduced the spacecraft's power consumption and thus postponed the need to turn off another scientific instrument by at least a year.

The operation, dubbed the “Big Bang,” required the mission team to simultaneously turn off several electrical devices and replace them with less power-consuming alternatives. Engineers had to make sure the change wouldn’t lower the spacecraft’s temperature below the threshold where its systems could shut down.

according to The update released by NASAWithout the savings operation, the mission team would have been forced to turn off another science instrument on Voyager 2 before the end of 2026. The new savings are expected to allow the three remaining instruments to continue operating for at least another year.

Voyager 2 loses about four watts every year

Like its sister spacecraft Voyager 1, Voyager 2 receives its power from radioisotope thermoelectric generators. These generators convert the heat released by the radioactive decay of radioisotopes into electricity. Plutonium-238.

The system is not a nuclear reactor and does not have a chain reaction. It relies on the heat naturally released from the radioactive material. As the plutonium continues to decay, the amount of heat and electricity the generators can provide decreases.

Each of the Voyager spacecraft loses about four watts of power each year. After nearly five decades in space, they have meager power reserves left, so the mission team has had to gradually turn off heaters, scientific instruments, and non-essential systems.

It is a process of choosing between competing needs: a scientific instrument can only operate if there is enough power left to power the computer, the communications system, the direction control, and the heaters that prevent freezing of components and fuel lines.

Three instruments are still exploring interstellar space

Each of the Voyager spacecraft carried ten scientific instruments at launch. Some of them were primarily designed for planetary encounters and were turned off after completing their tour of the outer solar system. Other instruments have been turned off in recent years to save power.

Since 2024, NASA has been forced to turn off two scientific instruments on each of the two spacecraft. Voyager 2 still has three instruments active:

• the cosmic ray system, which measures high-energy particles;
• The magnetometer, which measures the magnetic field in the spacecraft's environment;
• The plasma wave system, which allows for the study of plasma density and its properties.

The three instruments are of particular importance because Voyager 2 is one of only two spacecraft to have operated beyond the heliopause – the outer boundary of the solar system. The heliosphere, the bubble of particles and magnetic fields created by the sun.

Voyager 2 crossed the heliopause in 2018. The phrase "Interstellar space"In this context, it indicates that it is outside the bubble controlled by the solar wind. This does not mean that it has already left the entire sphere of gravitational influence of the Sun, which extends to a much greater distance.

The next move is planned for Voyager 1

The mission team intends to perform a similar move on Voyager 1, which is further from Earth than Voyager 2. According to NASA, the operation is scheduled to take place in the coming months.

Voyager 1 currently has two active scientific instruments: the magnetometer and the plasma wave system. The cosmic ray system was turned off in February 2025, and the low-energy charged particle system was turned off in April 2026.

The first Voyager spacecraft is further away, suffers from more severe power limitations, and takes longer to communicate with. That's why engineers chose to first perform the "Big Bang" operation on Voyager 2, which has a little more power left and is closer to Earth.

Both spacecraft were launched in 1977 on a mission originally planned to last a few years. Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited all four giant planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—up close. Today, it continues to provide measurements of its environment that no other active mission, except Voyager 1, can directly sample.

The save operation does not guarantee a new end date for the mission. A malfunction in an old component, loss of communications, or further depletion of the power supply could end operations earlier. However, each additional year of operation provides unique data about the region where the Sun's influence meets the interstellar medium.

Questions and Answers

What was Operation "The Big Bang"? An operation in which several power-consuming devices were simultaneously turned off and replaced with more energy-efficient alternatives, while maintaining a temperature that would allow Voyager 2's systems to continue operating.

How much longer is Voyager 2 expected to operate? The savings are expected to allow its three scientific instruments to continue operating for at least another year. There is no guarantee that the entire spacecraft will remain operational until a specific date.

Why is the electricity supply decreasing? The generators convert heat from the decay of plutonium-238 into electricity. As the material decays, the heat output decreases, and each spacecraft loses about four watts of power per year.

What instruments are still operating on Voyager 2? The cosmic ray system, the magnetometer, and the plasma wave system.

מקור

• NASA Engineers Help Prolong Voyager 2's Science Mission
• The version published in SciTechDaily
• Status of the Voyager spacecraft instruments – NASA

More on the subject on the science website

• NASA turned off an instrument on Voyager 1 to extend the life of the interstellar mission
• NASA will shut down instruments on Voyager spacecrafts to save power
• NASA engineers are changing Voyager 2 operations to extend the life of its instruments
• Voyager 1's "dead" spin engines pulsed again after 20 years
• Voyager 2 lost contact with Earth – and only one radio dish could restore it

For the original publication: Opening the original publication