NASA is keeping Voyager 2 going until at least 2026 by tapping into backup power

NASA is keeping Voyager 2 going until at least 2026 by tapping into backup power Enlarge this image toggle caption NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which has been probing the outer bounds of the solar system for over 45 years, is running out of power. With Voyager 2's power supply dwindling, NASA was about to shut down one of its five science instruments onboard the spacecraft. Sponsor Message "The move will enable the mission to postpone shutting down a science instrument until 2026, rather than this year," NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said this past week. "The science data that the Voyagers are returning gets more valuable the farther away from the Sun they go, so we are definitely interested in keeping as many science instruments operating as long as possible," Linda Spilker, the Voyager program's project scientist at the Jet Propulsion Lab, said in a statement.