Voyager 2 cheats the power budget for another year
NASA engineers successfully performed a power-saving procedure on the Voyager 2 probe to extend the life of its remaining instruments. The 'Big Bang' maneuver involved swapping heaters and power-consuming devices to keep the spacecraft functional for at least another year.
Why it matters
Voyager 2 is a historic mission, and these efforts represent the final attempts to maintain contact with humanity's most distant man-made objects.
Carefully choreographed shutdown gives probe's three remaining instruments more time
Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have eked out a little more life for instruments aboard the veteran Voyager 2 probe thanks to a power-saving effort called the "Big Bang."
The procedure involved switching several powered devices at once, turning some off and replacing others with lower-power alternatives while keeping the spacecraft warm enough to function. We don't envy whoever had to press the Send button and then wait to discover whether the commands had worked or left Voyager 2 out of action. The procedure appears to have succeeded and, according to NASA, "the savings provide power to keep its instruments operating for at least another year."
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