The two Voyager probes, the most distant human-made objects in the universe, will soon begin the process of shutting down.
The Voyager probes, the most distant human-made objects in the universe, will soon begin the process of shutting down. The two probes built by NASA were launched in the 1970s, and their decades-old hardware is still operating — much to everyone’s astonishment — but their power levels are falling every year. Now, NASA will begin powering off parts of the probes’ systems to keep them going for as long as possible. Scientific American reports that NASA intends to start turning off some systems on both the probes this year. But the fact they are both still operating at all is incredible, given that they were originally designed for a four-year mission. “We’re at 44 and a half years,” Ralph McNutt, a researcher who has worked with the Voyager probes, said to Scientific American.
