The Voyage 2, first launched in 1977, has been helping scientists study faraway planets and understand how the heliosphere (日球层) protects Earth. With Voyage 2's power supply running out, NASA was about to shut down one of its five science instruments on the spacecraft. To keep it going, engineers had already given up heaters and other nonessential parts that used power.
However, engineers have now found a way to use reserve power from a safety mechanism to support Voyager 2. The move will enable the mission to put off shutting down a science instrument until 2026, rather than this year.
Ed Stone, who was the chief scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, has spent over half his life dedicated to the Voyager programme. He said, "What it revealed was how complex the solar system really is. Before Voyager, the only known active volcanoes were here on Earth. And the only known oceans in the solar system were here on Earth. But we have known more since the Voyager programme started."
Voyager 2 and its twin, Voyager 1 (launched the same year), are the only spacecrafts to have ventured beyond the heliosphere. Voyager 2 is 12.3 billion miles away from Earth and counting. Voyager 1, also facing an expiration (到期) date as it also loses power, is 14.7 billion miles away.
"The science data that the Voyager are returning gets more valuable the farther away from the Sun they go, so we are definitely interested in keeping as many science instruments operating as long as possible," Linda Spilker, the Voyager programmes project scientist at the Jet Propulsion Lab said.
NASA, meanwhile, has been working to make sure the Voyager doesn't end up with a slow failure, with officials weighing expensive and complex suggestions from several groups for a new, long-term probe.
