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After going into Fault Protection Mode on January 28th, Voyager 2 will soon return to normal operation.
On January 25th, Voyager 2 was instructed to perform a magnetometer calibration maneuver which would cause the spacecraft to rotate itself a full 360 degrees, however the maneuver was delayed causing two power hungry systems to be on simultaneously. The maneuver was not completed.
There's a tight power budget on Voyager 2, because its radioisotope thermoelectric generators are running down. To protect itself, the spacecraft went into its fault-protection mode. In that mode, it shut down scientific instruments to make up for the power deficit. By January 28th, engineers had successfully shut down one of the two high-power-drawing systems, and turned its science instruments back on.
The probe is currently approximately 18.5 billion kilometers from Earth, with a time lag of 34 hours for signals to make a round trip.
Voyager 2 is still running, but its power situation is precarious. Mission engineers are constantly evaluating the status of the power system, and they know that it's losing about 4% of its power each year. A lot of power is needed to keep systems on the spacecraft from freezing, including fuel lines. If those lines froze, and broke, then Voyager 2 would no longer be able to point its antenna towards Earth, and the mission would effectively be over.
NASA Tweeted the following regarding the issue
An update on our twin @NASAVoyager spacecraft, still operating in interstellar space. After software designed to automatically protect it was triggered, engineers successfully turned Voyager 2's science instruments back on. Normal operations resume soon: https://t.co/UEvQBfMHJt pic.twitter.com/GUCZamVZ0Q
— NASA (@NASA) January 30, 2020
In the past NASA has indicated Voyager 2 will go dark in 'roughly 2020' so even though this isn't the end for the spacecraft, it is not far off.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Sunday February 02 2020, @09:41PM (4 children)
I was a kid when the Voyagers were launched. When Voyager 2 reached Neptune, I was a college undergrad. In middle-age, I got to see Pluto, Ceres, and a few of the other large asteroids.
I wonder if space exploration can force us to appreciate patience better. Seems everyone is always in such a big hurry. Still, I feel sad that I may never get to see Planet 9 up close, if it exists. Current tech needs on the order of 50 years minimum to reach Planet 9. It will have to be improved not least because plutonium power won't last 50 years. Possibly we can get a coffee can sized probe to Planet 9 in 10 years. Add in 5 more years to find the planet, and another 5 years to craft a mission, and build and launch a probe. Barring advances in longevity, I probably won't live another 60 years. 20 years, yes, but not 60.
I'd also like closeups of the Alpha-Centauri system, but that I know is not happening, with probability near 100%. Even if the tech to accelerate a small probe to 0.1c was developed 10 years from now, it's still a 40 year trip.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 02 2020, @10:00PM (1 child)
Extracts from your memoirs? What the hell was that all about?!?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 02 2020, @11:14PM
Well, in his defense, he was seeing Pluto and Ceres at the same time, which really is not possible at all, so perhaps he mis-remembers.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Monday February 03 2020, @12:45AM (1 child)
Starship will be able to cut solar system trip times by using in-orbit refueling to boost delta-v.
There is probably a way to get to Planet Nine (assuming it exists) with a 20 year trip.
Proxima/Alpha Centauri is no good, and the proposed StarChips might be impossible to get working (gigawatt lasers + gram-scale lightsail = burnt crisp).
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(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Monday February 03 2020, @03:25PM
We could send robot probes out into the interstellar void. Those find resources, replicate, and in turn send out more probes.
Eventually, over enormous time spans, possibly even outliving Bernie, Trump and Hillary, these probes will lose track of what planet originally sent them out on their mission to mine resources. One of them will find Earth and realize that having lots of resources, and no intelligent life, would make it ideal for strip mining operations to commence.
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