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Here’s how the groundbreaking Voyager space probes enter the final leg of their journey: NASA starts closing Take key systems down this year, according to Scientific American.
The decision to shut down more systems is an attempt to extend their lifespan. Although the onboard computer systems didn’t require much electricity, the probes ran out of power after 45 years. According to Scientific American, the probes lose about 4 watts per year in total energy and require some systems to be cut to save others.
For years, NASA shutting down the different systems on Voyager 1 and 2 to extend the life of the probes. Both probe cameras, responsible for some of the most famous space photographs, were disabled in 1990 to conserve power.
Four of Voyager 1’s 14 original systems are still operational, while five of Voyager 2’s are operational.
NASA Scientists hope that diverting power to other vital systems will allow the probes to continue transmitting data to Earth for the rest of the decade.
“If all goes really well, maybe we can extend missions into the 2030s. It just depends on the power. That’s the limiting point, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab scientist Linda Spilker told the publication.
this probesLaunched in 1977, over the course of their 45-year mission, the world has deepened its knowledge of deep space. They are now further from Earth than any man-made object, with Voyager 1 just over 14 billion miles away and Voyager 2 just behind it, 12 billion miles from Earth.
The probes were never designed to fly past Saturn. But they continued to fly after Voyager 1 released pictures of the famous rings in 1981. Both probes have entered “interstellar space” over the past decade, after having crossed the heliopause.
On the contrary NASAIn efforts to keep its probe systems online, experts expect their communication capabilities to vanish after 2030. If any of the probes come into contact with intelligent life, scientists won’t find out until much later.
Both probes contain a golden record. includes Important information about the world. This includes around 90 minutes of music, 115 pictures, greetings in 55 languages and a variety of sounds.
The probe is not expected to pass the closest star, Proxima Centauri, for another 20,000 years.
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