Are we still getting signals from Voyager 2?

The two Voyager spacecraft could remain in the range of the Deep Space Network through about 2036, depending on how much power the spacecraft still have to transmit a signal back to Earth. Both spacecraft have, however, passed the farthest known planets within our solar system – when Voyager 2 passed Neptune in 1989.

How long does NASA believe Voyager 2 can still successfully operate?

Voyagers 1 and 2 have the distinction of being in space for 42 years and still operating. And even though they’re 18 billion km (11 billion miles) from the Sun, they’re still valuable scientifically. But they’re running out of energy, and if NASA wants them to continue on much longer, they have some decisions to make.

Can NASA still communicate with Voyager 2?

NASA finally makes contact with Voyager 2 after longest radio silence in 30 years. There’s never been a radio silence quite like this one. After long months with no way of making contact with Voyager 2, NASA has finally reestablished communications with the record-setting interstellar spacecraft.

Will Voyager 2 be able to sample what space is like?

Some year before 2030, Voyager 2 is expected to cross the heliopause-the outer boundary of the vast region of space dominated by the solar wind and the Sun’s magnetic field-and reach interstellar space. In that sense, it can be said that the spacecraft will be able to sample what space is like beyond our solar system.

Why did Voyager 1 turn off its camera?

After Voyager 1 took its last image (the “Solar System Family Portrait” in 1990), the cameras were turned off to save power and memory for the instruments expected to detect the new charged particle environment of interstellar space. Mission managers removed the software from both spacecraft that controls the camera.

What happened to Voyager 2 after it reached Neptune?

Once past the Neptune system, Voyager 2 followed a course below the ecliptic plane and out of the solar system. Approximately 35 million miles (56 million kilometers) past the encounter, Voyager 2’s instruments were put in low power mode to conserve energy.

What’s next for Voyager’s science instruments?

The Voyager team has chosen to keep operating the instruments that are the most likely to send back key data about the heliosphere and interstellar space — the fields and particles instruments. Engineers expect to begin turning off fields and particles science instruments one by one, starting in 2020 for Voyager 2.