Power is dwindling on both nuclear-powered spacecraft, which rely on plutonium that decays over time. NASA reports the probes now lose roughly 4 watts of power a year. Without intervention, Voyager 2 would have needed to shut off one of its three remaining science instruments later this year. Voyager 1 is in worse shape, with only two of its 10 science instruments still powered after engineers were forced to turn one off in April.<\/p>\n
The Big Bang procedure involves selectively shutting off some high-power instruments while switching on lower-power alternatives, all while keeping the spacecraft warm enough to operate in the frigid environment of interstellar space. “The idea is to swap out a group of powered devices all at once, hence the nickname, turning some things off, and replacing them with lower-power alternatives, to keep the spacecraft warm enough to continue gathering science data,” representatives from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory wrote in an April blog post.<\/p>\n
According to a NASA statement released Aug. 4, engineers carefully tested the procedure on Voyager 2 before implementing it in May and June. The agency reports a successful power transfer. “The savings should provide power to keep its three instruments operating for at least an extra year,” NASA wrote. Scientists chose Voyager 2 first because it is in better health and closer to Earth than Voyager 1.<\/p>\n
The distances involved are extreme. Voyager 1 is nearly 171 astronomical units from Earth, while Voyager 2 is about 143 AU away, where one AU is the average distance between Earth and the sun. In November, Voyager 1 will reach a milestone “light day” from Earth, when it takes 24 hours for a radio signal to travel one way from the planet to the spacecraft. Both probes launched in 1977 and will turn 50 years old in 2027, assuming they keep working.<\/p>\n
Both spacecraft are crucial for revealing clues about the region outside the heliopause, the sphere of influence the sun exerts upon the solar system, as they are the only working spacecraft at such a distance. NASA officials say Voyager 1’s turn for a life-extending Big Bang will happen within a few months, to keep science operating there as long as possible.<\/p>\n
The next milestone comes in November, when Voyager 1 reaches its light-day mark from Earth. Before then, mission scientists intend to apply the Big Bang procedure to Voyager 1, the same maneuver that bought Voyager 2 an additional year of operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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