NASA to gradually shut Voyager probes as they drift away

Voyager spacecrafts have travelled further into space than any made-made space vehicle has ever gone. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, launched in 1977, were meant to last just five years. But decades on, the spacecrafts have continued on their path sending back invaluable data never before obtained.

The spacecrafts are humankind's imprint on the space. The spacecrafts are so far away from Earth it takes 20 light hours and 33 minutes for a signal to travel from Voyager-1 to Earth. In case of Voyager 2, a signal takes 18 light hours to reach Earth. These spacecrafts are 23.3 billion kilometres from Earth.

These spacecrafts carrying out such a long journey is in itself a wonder and a thing to be proud of as a human. But the arduous and still continuing journey has begun to take its toll it seems. NASA has been gradually turning off equipments aboard both the spacecrafts.

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Both of these probes are equipped with television cameras, infrared and ultraviolet sensors, magnetometers, plasma detectors, and cosmic-ray and charged-particle sensors. But 44 years on, the need to conserve energy in order to transmit data has assumed great priority.

NASA has hence been gradually switching of instruments one by one. It has been decades since NASA shut down cameras on the probes. And though it feels sad it appears that NASA would continue shutting down more instruments.

Though it is not certain, will there be a time when we would cut all contact with both spacecrafts? The Voyagers will continue their journey into nothingness of space even after that. They will bear testimony of human ingenuity as they would chart lonely path in the deep expanse.

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