Karmactive Staff

NASA Powers Down Voyager 2 Plasma Instrument: What This Means for the 12.8 Billion Mile Journey

[{"selector":"#anim-d2b4864e-34ab-4882-8cd2-9248bec4d77f","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":300,"duration":1300,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-86a5ee2c-0646-4628-b3ea-b209d324f88e","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -166.8313%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":300,"duration":1300,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-317cd69a-12df-4e5c-9a39-9e0dd3ebbee2","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-91414698-e264-4ccd-8b0f-80a91177ee41","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 99.42250%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-b0e8bd55-3b62-4106-aea5-93a6c41b67f9","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":1000,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-11fa948a-dad3-4ba5-9051-4056a76c8f0a","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 227.48575%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":1000,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] NASA engineers power down Voyager 2's plasma instrument while the spacecraft cruises 12.8 billion miles from Earth, marking a crucial moment in deep space exploration. Photo Source: Google Photo Source: Google

What happens when a 47-year-old spacecraft needs to conserve power while exploring regions no human-made object has reached before?

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[{"selector":"#anim-145e703e-855d-461e-b6e2-985a52ab6d36","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":300,"duration":1300,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-961be922-1af8-443c-9071-1b6cb1f84c45","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -164.60906%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":300,"duration":1300,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-30b7b2a4-a47e-41ce-b2e5-ab12c12cb0ed","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-575e1545-fcec-47c1-811d-bab85c08c238","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 96.79313%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-a2d85f8e-197f-4f5b-8edd-4980a302d8c5","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":1000,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-cc3668be-cbdd-456a-a036-c0d79e5feb1e","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 227.48575%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":1000,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Voyager 2's plasma science instrument, with its unique four-cup design, proved essential in confirming the spacecraft's historic exit from our solar system's protective bubble in 2018. Photo Source: Google Photo Source: Google

Mission control must wait 38 hours for a complete command cycle - 19 hours for signals to reach Voyager 2, and another 19 for confirmation back to Earth.

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How will NASA's strategic power management extend Voyager 2's mission into the 2030s, despite its depleting plutonium power source?

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[{"selector":"#anim-fa0414b6-d3f5-4324-82e5-730eccfc6448","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":300,"duration":1300,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-668557e7-c8b9-434f-8f7d-99deb8a38e3e","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -188.59128%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":300,"duration":1300,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-0a82db20-288f-4c6f-8da1-4e01034a2df2","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-a4925fec-5763-431d-9740-2a0691afadf6","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 96.83178%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-42e4828d-b9b1-4808-85c5-694861443522","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":1000,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-da7ba8fd-48d1-4d48-8824-de5bec8e39ee","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 227.48575%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":1000,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Deep in interstellar space, Voyager 2 continues gathering unprecedented data about the mysterious region beyond our Sun's influence. Photo Source: Google Photo Source: Google

The spacecraft's remaining operational instruments persist in their mission to study the unexplored frontier where solar wind meets interstellar space.

[{"selector":"#anim-398d96ec-b197-4f59-917f-d855104e0489","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":300,"duration":1300,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-f37eb743-44e7-4bc5-bb8a-bd33c11e9d29","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-115.18988%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":300,"duration":1300,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-b6883b76-b2cc-4eab-bf04-75c2d7dad2a8","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-d90a98f6-e06a-4ee5-8d6a-b93245d0ca59","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(97.24771%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-1880863c-cb1b-4800-b2b2-7df9796c9c75","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":1000,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-faf3449a-a639-43c7-b0cf-5d0b0a03ed83","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 374.74634%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":1000,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Photo Source: Google

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Karmactive Staff

What happens when a 47-year-old spacecraft needs to conserve power while exploring regions no human-made object has reached before?

Mission control must wait 38 hours for a complete command cycle - 19 hours for signals to reach Voyager 2, and another 19 for confirmation back to Earth.

How will NASA's strategic power management extend Voyager 2's mission into the 2030s, despite its depleting plutonium power source?

The spacecraft's remaining operational instruments persist in their mission to study the unexplored frontier where solar wind meets interstellar space.

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