NASA powers down Voyager 2 plasma instrument to extend mission

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NASA powers down Voyager 2 plasma instrument to extend mission

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This photo provided by NASA shows the “Sounds of Earth” record being mounted on the Voyager 2 spacecraft in the Safe-1 Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Aug. 4, 1977. Credit: AP Photo/NASA, File

To save power, NASA has switched off another scientific instrument on its long-running Voyager 2 spacecraft.

The space agency said Tuesday that Voyager 2’s plasma science instrument—designed to measure the flow of charged atoms—was powered down in late September so the spacecraft can keep exploring for as long as possible, expected into the 2030s.

NASA turned off a suite of instruments on Voyager 2 and its twin Voyager 1 after they explored the gas giant planets in the 1980s. Both are currently in interstellar space, or the space between stars. The plasma instrument on Voyager 1 stopped working long ago and was finally shut down in 2007.

Four remaining instruments on Voyager 2 will continue collecting information about magnetic fields and particles. Its goal is to study the swaths of space beyond the sun’s protective bubble.

Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to visit Uranus and Neptune. It’s currently more than 12 billion miles (19.31 billion kilometers) from Earth. Voyager 1 is over 15 billion miles (24.14 billion kilometers) from Earth.

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