Ask by Geeks 7/19/2022
The future of NASA’s aging Voyager spacecraft, which over the last 45 years have collected data no human-made probes have ever gathered, is starting to come into sharper focus.
Why it matters: Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are the only functional human-made spacecraft currently in interstellar space.
• Both spacecraft — which launched to space in August (Voyager 2) and September (Voyager 1) 1977 — are not only scientific tools, but emissaries of humanity, carrying golden civilization records that contain images, music and even a map for an alien that may run across it to find us.
• “No spacecraft is going to get back to where Voyager 1 and 2 are for decades,” Suzanne Dodd, Voyager’s project manager, tells Axios.
Driving the news: Next month, the Voyager science team will meet to discuss the science that the spacecraft have been beaming back and talk about the future of the mission before making recommendations to NASA on how to proceed to get the best science from the aging probes.
• The Voyager team is also putting together a proposal to NASA asking the agency to again extend its mission so it can continue to gather information about this mysterious part of space. A final decision on a mission extension is expected this spring.
• Even as the Voyagers age and encounter technical difficulties, keeping them functioning remains a high priority because their data is unique.
• Mission controllers have turned off instruments on Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 that weren’t deemed essential to their interstellar mission in the past, but now, as the spacecraft age, it’s possible the team will need to start turning off functional instruments that are sending home important science to conserve power.
More:
https://askbygeeks.com/science/235715/
