NASA Shuts Off Key Instrument On Voyager 1 To "Keep Humanity's 1st Interstellar Explorer Going"

NASA engineers have turned off another science instrument aboard Voyager 1, choosing to sacrifice data collection to extend the spacecraft's life. The move is part of a deliberate power-saving strategy aimed at keeping the 47-year-old probe sending signals from interstellar space into the 2030s. The space agency confirmed that mission engineers at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California sent commands on April 17 to shut down an instrument called the Low-energy Charged Particles experiment (LECP).

As per the US-based space agency, this move was the best course of action to keep this nuclear-powered spacecraft, which is running low on power, to keep it going beyond our solar system.

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NASA mentioned that shutting down the LECP will give Voyager 1 about a year of breathing room.

"While shutting down a science instrument is not anybody's preference, it is the best option available," Kareem Badaruddin, Voyager mission manager at JPL, said as quoted by NASA.

"Voyager 1 still has two remaining operating science instruments - one that listens to plasma waves and one that measures magnetic fields."

"They are still working great, sending back data from a region of space no other human-made craft has ever explored. The team remains focused on keeping both Voyagers going for as long as possible."

NASA noted that the instrument, LECP, operated just fine, almost without interruption, ever since Voyager 1 was launched in 1977.

The instrument was used to measure low-energy charged particles, including ions, electrons and cosmic rays originating from our solar system and galaxy, NASA confirmed.

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Shutting down Voyager instruments

On February 25, 2026, mission engineers commanded Voyager 1 to switch off its cosmic ray subsystem. The instrument, which actually is a set of three telescopes, measured high-energy particles from the Sun, our galaxy and beyond. It played a key role in confirming when and where Voyager 1 exited the heliosphere in 2012.

The shutdown wasn't unexpected. Both Voyager 1 and 2 run on heat from decaying plutonium, converted to electricity by radioisotope thermoelectric generators. Each probe loses about 4 watts of power per year. With no way to recharge, the team must turn off systems one by one to keep core functions alive.

Voyager 1 is more than 15 billion miles from Earth, making it the most distant human-made object. A radio signal takes more than 23 hours each way. Voyager 2 is over 13 billion miles away.