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How NASA hopes they can keep the Voyager probes alive until their 50th anniversary [1]
['David Pescovitz']
Date: 2024-01-22
NASA launched the twin Voyagers 1 and 2 in 1977 on a grand tour of the solar system and into the mysteries of interstellar space. Attached to each of these spacecraft is a golden phonograph record containing a message for any extraterrestrial intelligence that might encounter it, perhaps billions of years from now. This enchanting artifact—the Voyager Golden Record—may be the last vestige of our civilization after we are gone forever. Almost 47 years later, the probes are more than 12 billion miles away and still transmitting valuable scientific data back home. Yes, there have been nerve-rattling hiccups but NASA's engineers have managed incredible feats of long-distance repairs. The crafts' nuclear power is running out though. Can the Voyagers manage to stay in touch with us for another few years until their 50th anniversary?
"We've done a lot of clever engineering things to be able to keep these instruments on as long as possible, knowing that we have a limited power supply," Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd says.
From Business Insider:
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