Voyager 2 science experiment shut down to preserve power

Voyager 2, headed into interstellar space 13 billion miles from Earth, is running low on power. To conserve it, the NASA team in charge of the iconic explorer is shutting down scientific instruments.

Mission engineers sent a command to shutter the Voyager 2's Plasma Science, or PLS, experiment — which was used to observe solar winds — on September 26 using the Deep Space Network, a series of massive radio antennae that can beam information billions of miles through space. It took 19 hours for the message to reach Voyager 2, and a return signal was received 19 hours later, NASA said Tuesday.

That's not the end for Voyager 2's science duties: there's power to keep one instrument running until the 2030s. If your current laptop makes it that far it'll be a hero, too.

"Mission engineers have taken steps to avoid turning off a science instrument for as long as possible because the science data collected by the twin Voyager probes is unique," wrote NASA. "No other human-made spacecraft has operated in interstellar space, the region outside the heliosphere."

Previously:
• Voyager 2 will stay alive years longer thanks to new power strategy
• Voyager 2 spaceprobe may be on the verge of interstellar space
• Voyager 2 is back up and running!
• Voyager 2 has entered interstellar space!