![This image shows the locations of Voyagers 1 and 2. Voyager 1 is traveling a lot and has crossed into the heliosheath, the region where interstellar gas and solar wind start to mix. Suggested for English Wikipedia:alternative text for images: orange area at left labeled Bow Shock appears to compress a pale blue oval-shaped region labeled Heliosphere extending to the right with its border labeled Heliopause. A central dark blue circular region is labeled Termination Shock with the gap between it and the Heliosphere labeled Heliosheath. Centred in the blue region is a concentric set of ellipses around a bright spot with two white lines curving away from it: the upper line labeled Voyager 1 ends outside the dark blue circle; the lower line labeled Voyager 2 appears inside. Remark: This picture is from 2005. Today (3 October 2018) Voyager 1 is well beyond the Heliopause and Voyager 2 is about to cross the Heliopause soon (see the latest "3 October 2018" image).[1] Further, there has been evidence that the Bow Shock does not exist; whether the Heliosheath has this long of a tail is doubtful, too. It might be almost spherical.](https://www.digitalnewsreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/voyager_1_entering_heliosheath_region_jpg_20260808_003737-850x574.jpg)
An ambitious effort to extend the life of a spacecraft that has been traveling through deep space for nearly half a century appears to have succeeded. Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, spent months planning what they called the ‘Big Bang’ fix to help the historic Voyager 2 spacecraft continue its science mission. The probe is now more than 40 billion kilometers from Earth, far beyond the orbit of Pluto and in a region known as interstellar space.
The two Voyager spacecraft were launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets of our solar system, and they are now the most distant active machines from Earth, according to CNN. Both probes use a type of power source called radioisotope thermo-electric generators, which convert heat from decaying plutonium into electricity. These power sources lose about four watts of energy each year, which has forced engineers to shut down systems over time.
As the spacecraft’s power supply continues to decline, scientists have had to turn off instruments to keep the probes functioning. To avoid shutting down another instrument this year, engineers decided to switch some systems on and off in a way that saves energy. This change involves turning off some devices that use more power, while switching on others that consume less.
The goal is to maintain the spacecraft’s temperature and keep it able to collect important scientific data. After the change, Voyager 2 now has enough power to run its three remaining science instruments for at least one more year. The team that worked on this project said it was a major achievement after a year of careful planning and testing.
A similar plan is now being considered for the other Voyager probe, Voyager 1, which is even farther from Earth. Because of how far away the probes are, engineers must be very cautious about every action they take. In the cold of space, turning off systems could cause them to freeze and stop working permanently.
Tests were done in May and June to make sure the new system would not use more power than expected or lower temperatures too much. The actual changes were made on July 9, when engineers turned off two heaters and a digital tape recorder that had been providing extra heat. Two new systems were switched on, which use less power but still provide enough warmth for the probe to function.
After confirming everything worked as expected, engineers updated the spacecraft’s software. If Voyager 2 enters safe mode in the future, it will automatically use the new lower-power systems. The team felt confident about the success of this fix after a test in May showed results close to what they had predicted.
The same approach will be used for Voyager 1, which is even further from Earth. Voyager 1 has already been tested with a similar power-saving method, and engineers are preparing for the next phase of testing. If this plan works, Voyager 2 could continue operating for at least another year.
The mission has already had to shut down one instrument on each spacecraft since 2024 due to power loss. Voyager 2 currently has only three instruments still active: the Cosmic Ray Subsystem, Magnetometer, and Plasma Wave Subsystem, according to a report from Mashable. These instruments help scientists understand what conditions are like in interstellar space.
The spacecraft has traveled through the solar system and beyond, passing by Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Voyager 1 entered interstellar space in 2012, while Voyager 2 did so in 2018, Space.com reported. The probes were designed to take advantage of a rare planetary alignment that allowed them to visit multiple planets.
Voyager 2 was the first spacecraft to see Uranus and Neptune up close, in addition to their moons. The two probes continue to send data back from the edge of our solar system. Voyager 2 is now more than 3 billion miles away from Earth, and its twin is even further.
The power supply on both spacecraft continues to decrease, which affects their ability to run all instruments at once. Each probe originally had ten science instruments, but now only three remain active on Voyager 2. The team is working to preserve the mission and keep these valuable probes operating as long as possible.
By conserving energy, engineers hope to extend the life of both spacecraft and possibly restart some instruments that were turned off. One such instrument, the Low-energy Charged Particles experiment, was shut down in April but may be restarted if power allows. This instrument has been measuring charged particles from our solar system and beyond, giving scientists new insights into space.
The subsystems of this instrument include a telescope and magnetospheric particle analyzer, which can view in all directions. Even though the main components of this instrument have been turned off, they still use very little power and could be revived in the future. The success of the first test on Voyager 2 gave engineers confidence that similar steps would work for Voyager 1.
The team is hopeful that the same results can be achieved with the other probe, which has a slightly different set of challenges. The Voyager missions have been a major part of space exploration for decades, and this latest effort shows how engineers continue to push the limits of what is possible. These spacecraft are not just machines, but symbols of human curiosity and ambition in space.
IMAGE: This image shows the locations of Voyagers 1 and 2. Voyager 1 is traveling a lot and has crossed into the heliosheath, the region where interstellar gas and solar wind start to mix.
Suggested for English Wikipedia:alternative text for images: orange area at left labeled Bow Shock appears to compress a pale blue oval-shaped region labeled Heliosphere extending to the right with its border labeled Heliopause. A central dark blue circular region is labeled Termination Shock with the gap between it and the Heliosphere labeled Heliosheath. Centred in the blue region is a concentric set of ellipses around a bright spot with two white lines curving away from it: the upper line labeled Voyager 1 ends outside the dark blue circle; the lower line labeled Voyager 2 appears inside. Public domain