Tough Decisions Loom as Voyager Just Keeps Going and Going…

The Voyager spacecraft are still functioning 42 years after launch, and NASA recently announced a plan to keep these intrepid space travelers functioning as they continue their journeys beyond the Solar System. However, as power on each of the two craft continues to dwindle, difficult decisions need to be made soon regarding the future of the most-traveled spacecraft ever produced by humans.

Since their launch, these two robotic explorers have returned unprecedented science, and they are still sending back data more than four decades after leaving Earth. Now, they are the first craft to journey beyond our family of planets, far exceeding their original missions.

An artist’s concept of one of the Voyager spacecraft passing into the uncharted regions beyond our solar system. Image credit: NASA

"It’s incredible that Voyagers’ instruments have proved so hardy. We’re proud they’ve withstood the test of time. The long lifetimes of the spacecraft mean we’re dealing with scenarios we never thought we’d encounter. We will continue to explore every option we have in order to keep the Voyagers doing the best science possible,” said Voyager Project Manager Suzanne Dodd of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The Long and Winding Road

Launched from Earth in 1977, this pair of spacecraft have already carried out the longest journey ever by robotic explorers in the depths of space. But, as time goes on, their…