Produced by: Manoj Kumar
To stay alive in deep space, Voyager 1 shut down a key cosmic ray detector on Feb. 25, and Voyager 2 will turn off its particle instrument by March 24 to save precious power.
Losing 4 watts every year, both Voyagers now run on dwindling plutonium heat—forcing NASA to cut instruments to keep them exploring the void.
Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 and 2 have traveled 29 billion miles and are still sending data back—holding the record as the farthest human-made objects ever.
Voyager 2’s plasma science experiment was turned off in October 2024, ending decades of measuring mysterious interstellar plasma flows.
“These spacecraft are deep space rockstars,” says NASA’s Suzanne Dodd, but without powering down instruments, they’d only have months left to live.
By 2026, each Voyager will operate only two instruments, and if lucky, just one into the 2030s—making every byte of data they send a precious scientific treasure.
Voyager 1’s cosmic ray system, now shut off, was crucial to proving it left the heliosphere in 2012—marking humanity’s step into interstellar space.
Turning off these instruments is expected to buy one more year of data from the edge of interstellar space—before the Voyagers fall silent forever.
“Every day could be their last,” says Voyager scientist Linda Spilker, but every moment still holds the potential for a final cosmic discovery.