NASA extends Voyager 2's mission by 3 years with new power plan.
TL;DR Summary
NASA has found a way to hack a backup source of power to keep Voyager 2 going until 2026, postponing its demise. Voyager 1 and 2 have provided crucial scientific information in their 45 years of spaceflight and are currently traveling in interstellar space, 12 and 14 billion miles away from Earth. NASA engineers found a way to divert power from a safety mechanism designed to turn on if the probes' circuit malfunctions because of voltage variations, allowing them to keep the science instruments turned on longer.
Topics:science#interstellar-space#nasa#power-system#science-and-technology#space-exploration#voyager-2
- NASA Hacks Voyager 2 to Keep The 45-Year-Old Probe Studying Interstellar Space ScienceAlert
- NASA refuses goodbye to its old Voyager spacecraft Mashable
- Voyager 2 has been in space for 45 years. NASA just found a way to keep it alive for another 3, despite it being 12 billion miles from Earth. msnNOW
- NASA 'Trick' Boosts Voyager 2's Life by 3 Years Newser
- New power plan will keep Voyager 2 running even longer BGR
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