NASA engineers extend Voyager 2's mission with new power-saving maneuver

Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have carried out a procedure dubbed “Big Bang,” which simultaneously powers down certain energy-intensive hardware on Voyager 2 and replaces them with lower-consumption options, all while keeping the probe warm enough to operate. The spacecraft, launched almost 50 years ago, relies on radioisotope thermoelectric generators that lose about 4 watts annually as plutonium decays, leaving very limited surplus power.

To manage the dwindling supply, the mission team has been progressively shutting off non-essential systems, including two science instruments on each Voyager since 2024. The new power-saving swap provides enough electricity to sustain Voyager 2’s three active instruments for at least one more year, averting an additional instrument shutdown that would have been required before the close of 2026. NASA plans to apply a similar power-conservation update to Voyager 1 in the coming months.