---
title: NASA switches off instrument on Voyager 2 spacecraft to save power
description: To save power, NASA has switched off another scientific instrument on its long-running Voyager 2 spacecraft.
image: https://www.meritstreetmedia.com/hubfs/Annie%20G%20images/Voyager%202%20spacecraft.jpg
---

 1 min read

# NASA switches off instrument on Voyager 2 spacecraft to save power

[![Picture of Merit Street Media](https://www.meritstreetmedia.com/hubfs/Merit%20logo.png) Merit Street Media ](https://www.meritstreetmedia.com/news/author/merit-street-media-1) |  Oct 02, 2024

![NASA switches off instrument on Voyager 2 spacecraft to save power](https://www.meritstreetmedia.com/hubfs/Annie%20G%20images/Voyager%202%20spacecraft.jpg)

Florida — To save power, NASA has switched off another scientific instrument on its long-running Voyager 2 spacecraft.

The space agency said Tuesday that Voyager 2's plasma science instrument — designed to measure the flow of charged atoms — was powered down in late September so the [spacecraft can keep exploring](https://apnews.com/nasas-voyager-2-becomes-2nd-craft-in-interstellar-space-720ab4c6a4d440148cef82c7ae03fb54) for as long as possible, expected into the 2030s.

NASA turned off a suite of instruments on Voyager 2 and its twin Voyager 1 after they explored the gas giant planets in the 1980s. Both are currently in interstellar space, or the space between stars. The plasma instrument on Voyager 1 stopped working long ago and was finally shut down in 2007.

Four remaining instruments on Voyager 2 will continue collecting information about magnetic fields and particles. Its goal is to study the swaths of space beyond the sun's protective bubble.

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> — NASA (@NASA) [September 30, 2024](https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1840754797378457659?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to visit Uranus and Neptune. It's currently more than 12 billion miles from Earth. Voyager 1 is over 15 billion miles from Earth.

*Copyright Associated Press*

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