NASA Shuts Off Instrument on Voyager 1 to Keep Spacecraft Operating On April 17, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California sent commands to shut down an instrument aboard Voyager 1 called the Low-energy Charged Particles experiment, or LECP.
The nuclear-powered spacecraft is running low on power, and turning off the LECP is considered the best way to keep humanity’s first interstellar explorer going.
The LECP has been operating almost without interruption since Voyager 1 launched in 1977 — almost 49 years.
It measures low-energy charged particles, including ions, electrons, and cosmic rays originating from our solar system and galaxy.
The instrument has provided critical data about the structure of the interstellar medium, detecting pressure fronts and regions of varying particle density in the space beyond our heliosphere.
The twin Voyagers are the only spacecraft that are far enough from Earth to provide this information.
Like Voyager 2, Voyager 1 relies on a radioisotope thermoelectric generator, a device that converts heat from decaying plutonium into electricity.
Both probes lose about 4 watts of power each year.
After almost a half-century in space, power margins have grown razor thin, requiring the team to conserve energy by shutting off heaters and instruments while making sure the spacecraft don’t get so cold that their fuel lines freeze.
During a routine, planned roll maneuver on Feb.
27, Voyager 1’s power levels fell unexpectedly.
Mission engineers knew any additional drop in power could trigger the spacecraft’s undervoltage fault protection system, which would shut down components on its own to safeguard the probe, requiring recovery by the flight team — a lengthy process that carries its own risks.
The Voyager team needed to act first.
“While shutting down a science instrument is not anybody’s preference, it is the best option available,” said Kareem Badaruddin, Voyager mission manager at JPL.
“Voyager 1 still has two remaining operating science instruments — one that listens to plasma waves and one that measures magnetic fields.
They are still....
