Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Voyager 2 is a spacecraft. It was launched by NASA a very long time ago, in 1977.
Voyager 2 is now very far from Earth, out in deep space. It still has a little bit of power left.
NASA engineers did something clever. They turned off some parts of the spacecraft that used a lot of power.
This clever plan is called the Big Bang. It will let Voyager 2 keep working for at least one more year.
- spacecraft
- a vehicle used to travel in space
- launch
- to send something, like a spacecraft, into the sky or space
- far
- a long distance away
- deep space
- the area of space very far from Earth
- power
- energy used to make something work
- engineer
- a person who builds and fixes machines and technology
- clever
- smart, showing skill in solving problems
- plan
- an idea for how to do something
Level 2 — Elementary
NASA engineers have found a clever way to extend the life of Voyager 2, a spacecraft launched in 1977 that is now traveling through interstellar space, far beyond our solar system.
Like a battery running low, Voyager 2's power supply has been slowly shrinking for decades. Without action, engineers would have had to shut down another one of its science instruments before the end of 2026.
To prevent that, engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory carried out a bold procedure nicknamed the Big Bang. They simultaneously switched off two heaters and an old tape recorder, replacing their functions with lower power alternatives.
The plan worked. The power savings mean Voyager 2 can now keep running its three remaining science instruments, the magnetometer, the plasma wave subsystem, and the cosmic ray subsystem, for at least another year. NASA plans to carry out a similar fix on Voyager 1 in the coming months.
- extend
- to make something last longer
- interstellar
- relating to the space between stars
- solar system
- the sun and all the planets and objects that orbit it
- shrink
- to become smaller over time
- instrument
- a device used to measure or record something
- procedure
- a series of steps taken to accomplish a task
- heater
- a device that produces warmth
- alternative
- another option that can be used instead
Level 3 — Intermediate
Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have devised an audacious power saving procedure, nicknamed the Big Bang, that has bought Voyager 2, humanity's longest running interstellar probe, at least another year of scientific operation.
Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 relies on a radioisotope thermoelectric generator whose output has been steadily declining for nearly five decades. Absent intervention, engineers would have been forced to power down yet another of its dwindling instruments before the close of 2026.
The Big Bang procedure involved simultaneously switching off several powered devices, specifically two heaters and an aging tape recorder, and substituting them with lower power alternatives, all while ensuring the spacecraft remained warm enough to keep functioning in the frigid depths of interstellar space.
The savings secured are sufficient to keep Voyager 2's three surviving instruments, its magnetometer, plasma wave subsystem, and cosmic ray subsystem, operational for at least an additional year. The mission team expects to complete an equivalent power saving swap on Voyager 1 within the coming months.
- audacious
- bold and daring, willing to take risks
- probe
- an unmanned spacecraft sent to explore space
- radioisotope thermoelectric generator
- a device that converts heat from decaying radioactive material into electricity
- decline
- to gradually decrease in strength or amount
- intervention
- action taken to improve or change a situation
- dwindling
- gradually decreasing in size or amount
- substitute
- to use one thing in place of another
- frigid
- extremely cold
Level 4 — Advanced
Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have engineered an audacious operational pivot, nicknamed the Big Bang, that has secured at least another year of scientific service for Voyager 2, humanity's longest continuously operating interstellar probe, nearly five decades after its 1977 launch.
Voyager 2's onboard radioisotope thermoelectric generator, which converts heat from decaying plutonium into electricity, has been shedding output steadily since launch, a decline that would otherwise have forced engineers to power down yet another of its dwindling suite of instruments before the close of 2026.
The procedure entailed the simultaneous deactivation of several powered subsystems, specifically two heaters and an obsolete tape recorder, in favor of markedly lower power alternatives, all executed while preserving sufficient thermal margin to keep the spacecraft's remaining electronics functioning amid the near absolute cold of interstellar space.
The resulting savings are sufficient to sustain Voyager 2's three surviving instruments, its magnetometer, plasma wave subsystem, and cosmic ray subsystem, for at least an additional year of operation, and the mission team anticipates executing an equivalent power saving intervention on Voyager 1 within the coming months, extending the twin probes' improbable run at the edge of human reach.
- operational pivot
- a significant change in how a system or mission is run
- onboard
- carried within or as part of a vehicle or spacecraft
- plutonium
- a radioactive metal used as a fuel source in some spacecraft
- deactivation
- the act of turning something off or making it inactive
- subsystem
- a smaller system that is part of a larger overall system
- thermal margin
- the extra buffer of heat available before a system becomes too cold or hot to function
- sustain
- to keep something going over a period of time
- improbable
- unlikely to happen or to have happened, given the odds
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