Voyager 2's Science Mission Extended to 2026 Thanks to Backup Power Reservoir: NASA

NASA has announced that the science missions of Voyager 2 will be extended to 2026, thanks to a small reservoir of backup power that the spacecraft has started using. This innovative solution saved the folks at NASA from having to begin gradually shutting down the instruments onboard the spacecraft.

The aging Voyager 2 has been using five science instruments to study interstellar space since its launch in 1977, and it is more than 12 billion miles away from Earth.

Voyager 2 and its twin, Voyager 1, are the only spacecraft to have ever operated outside the heliosphere. Having traveled through space for more than 45 years, the spacecraft is now in territories where interstellar gases cancel out energy from the Sun.

How NASA Figured Out a Power Supply Hack for Voyager

The Voyager probes use a special device called a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) to produce electricity from decaying plutonium. However, the generator has less power over time because the plutonium is decaying.

To compensate for this loss, engineers turn off non-essential systems to keep the spacecraft flying. Since the 1977 launch, already 5 of 10 instruments are still operating.

The power supply for Voyager 2 was going to run out this year, so NASA was going to turn off one of the spacecraft's five science instruments. You can read more about the Voyager Mission Status here.

But instead of doing that, NASA found a way to use a small amount of backup power to protect the instruments if the spacecraft's voltage changes.

The Voyager has a voltage regulator that triggers a backup circuit in case of a significant voltage change, and this circuit can access some of the reserved power from the RTG. Rather than keeping that power in reserve, NASA will use it to keep the science instruments running until 2026.

"The science data that the Voyagers 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," said Linda Spilker, Voyager's project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

A Test of Endurance for Voyager

NASA's Voyager mission was initially planned to last only four years. However, it has been extended several times since then, including Voyager 2's visits to Neptune and Uranus.

In 1990, NASA extended the mission again, this time to send the probes outside the heliosphere. Scientists now claim that the task will reach the inner edge of the Oort Cloud in 300 years. To put that into perspective, the heavenly body is about two light years away from Earth.

Despite being in space for more than 45 years, the electrical systems on both Voyager probes have remained relatively stable. NASA's engineering team is now experimenting with a new approach to managing voltage fluctuations on Voyager 2, which, if successful, could also be implemented on Voyager 1.

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