Voyager 1, the farthest spacecraft from our planet, has powered down another science instrument as it explores uncharted interstellar space — a move that could buy time for an ambitious attempt to extend the probe’s impressive lifespan.NASA sent a command on April 17 to deactivate the spacecraft’s Low-energy Charged Particles experiment, or LECP, in the hopes of saving power as Voyager 1 journeys farther from Earth by the day, according to the agency. The same instrument, which measures the structure of the space between stars, was turned off on Voyager 1’s twin, Voyager 2, in March 2025.The probes launched weeks apart in 1977, each outfitted with a suite of 10 science instruments intended to aid their flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Voyager 1 is currently about 25.40 billion kilometers (16 billion miles) from Earth, while Voyager 2 is roughly 21.35 billion kilometers (13 billion miles) away.AdvertisementAdvertisementThey are the only active spacecraft beyond the heliosphere, the sun’s bubble of magnetic fields and particles that extends well beyond the orbit of Pluto. Keeping the probes operating far longer than their expected lifespan of five years has meant shutting down different instruments over time to preserve each spacecraft’s limited power supply.“While shutting down a science instrument is not anybody’s preference, it is the best option available,” said Kareem Badaruddin, Voyager mission manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.“Voyager 1 still has two remaining operating science instruments — one that listens to plasma waves and one that measures magnetic fields. They are still working great, sending back data from a region of space no other human-made craft has ever explored. The team remains focused on keeping both Voyagers going for as long as possible.”Three functioning science instruments remain on Voyager 2.Engineers hope the latest sacrificial move can keep Voyager 1 operating long enough for the team to potentially roll out an upgrade, nicknamed “the Big Bang,” that could allow the record-breaking probe to continue exploring deeper into space — and perhaps even restart some …
