NASA Shut Down Voyager 1 Science Instrument After Unexpected Power Drop

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

Engineers are working on a long-term plan to keep the iconic spacecraft alive:

NASA engineers are working to keep the Voyager mission alive as it cruises through interstellar space, opting to shut down components of the spacecraft to save power.

Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) sent commands to Voyager 1 to shut off one of its science instruments after the spacecraft's power levels fell unexpectedly. Out of the 10 instruments on board Voyager 1, only two are still operating as the mission team figures out new ways to keep the spacecraft alive for longer.

While shutting down a science instrument is not anybody's preference, it is the best option available," Kareem Badaruddin, Voyager mission manager at JPL, said in a statement.

In late February, Voyager 1's power levels dropped during a routine roll maneuver. The Voyager team had to act fast; any additional drop in power could trigger a safeguard system that would begin shutting down components on its own.

Voyager is powered by heat from decaying plutonium that is converted into electricity. Each year, the aging spacecraft loses about 4 watts of power. In an effort to extend the mission duration, the team has turned off systems deemed unnecessary to keep the spacecraft going, including a few of the science instruments.

The team of engineers agreed on the order in which they would shut down instruments on board Voyager, and the Low-energy Charged Particles experiment, or LECP, was next on that list. LECP measures low-energy charged particles, including ions, electrons, and cosmic rays originating from our solar system and galaxy, and has been providing critical data on the structure of the interstellar medium for the past 49 years.

On April 17, the team was forced to send commands to shut off LECP. The sequence of commands took around 23 hours to reach Voyager 1, while the shutdown process itself took about three hours and 15 minutes to complete.

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