NASA engineers have shut down another instrument on Voyager 1 to preserve the power of the most distant spacecraft ever sent into space.<\/p>\n
The Low-energy Charged Particles experiment (LECP) was turned off on Friday (April 17) to ensure Voyager 1<\/a> has more time available to continue its exploration of space beyond the solar system.<\/p>\n Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 left the solar system <\/a>on August 25, 2012, passing a bubble of charged particles called the Heliopause that marks the outer limit of the sun’s cosmic backyard. As of this month, the spacecraft is the most distant man-made object from Earth at over 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) away.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Voyager 1 and its interstellar-exploring twin Voyager 2 <\/a>have been providing vital data about the so-called interstellar medium. The fact that they are currently the only spacecraft beyond the solar system<\/a> means they are uniquely positioned to collect this information.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n LECP has been operating aboard Voyager 1 almost since its launch. The purpose of the experiment is to measure low-energy charged particles from the solar system and beyond, such as ions, electrons, and so-called cosmic rays.<\/a><\/p>\n The choice to switch off LECP wasn’t random. NASA engineers agreed years ago on the order in which Voyager 1 instruments should be shut down to preserve the dwindling nuclear power of the spacecraft. Voyager 2’s own LECP instrument was silenced in March 2025.<\/p>\n The Voyager twins left Earth with identical suites of 10 instruments, of which only three now remain operational on both spacecraft.<\/p>\n