NASA’s Just Prolonged Voyager 2’s Science Mission With A Big Bang
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JPL engineers executed a 'big bang' switch on Voyager 2, powering down two heaters and another device to free up power from the spacecraft's diminishing RTG output. This maneuver has extended Voyager 2's science mission by approximately one additional year. The heaters were previously needed to keep both electronics and fuel lines warm enough for attitude adjustments. The JPL team plans to perform the same procedure on Voyager 1 to similarly extend its operational lifespan before both probes eventually go silent.
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How did NASA extend Voyager 2's mission lifetime recently?
JPL engineers performed a 'big bang' switch on Voyager 2, powering down two heaters and another device that had been kept on to maintain operating temperatures. This freed up enough power from the spacecraft's diminishing RTG output to extend the science mission by approximately one additional year. The same procedure is planned for Voyager 1. Engineers following deep-space mission updates like this one track them on daily.dev as they break.