NASA’s twin Voyager probes, which launched in 1977, are the longest-running missions to send data home. But as their power supplies wane, scientists are saying goodbye to one instrument on each spacec

NASA has made the difficult decision to turn off two science instruments aboard the Voyager spacecraft, ensuring that the longest-running space mission in history continues well into the 2030s. As power levels aboard the twin probes dwindle,

The twin probes should operate for about a year before the team is forced to shut off yet more instruments. The Voyager spacecraft have been cruising through interstellar space for more than 47 years,

Voyager 1 — launched in 1977 and now over 15.6 billion miles from Earth — started out with 10 science instruments, but now has just three running after NASA turned off another gadget to conserve its finite nuclear fuel supply. And later this month, the space agency's engineers will turn off another instrument on its exploration sibling, Voyager 2.

NASA engineers are turning off two instruments on Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 to ensure these twin spacecraft can continue exploring interstellar space.

However, NASA isn’t ready to say goodbye just yet, and is taking measures to get as much life out of the pair as possible. On March 5, Voyager mission engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in southern California confirmed they have already turned off Voyager 1’s cosmic ray subsystem experiment.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) turned off Voyager 1's cosmic ray subsystem experiment and on March 25, it will shut down Voyager 2's low-energy charged particle instrument. "The Voyagers have been deep space rock stars since launch,

It’s been 47 years since the twin Voyager spacecraft started their historic mission. Having travelled through interstellar space, farther from Earth than any other human-made objects, their nuclear batteries are depleting — but NASA is taking measures to squeeze as much life out of the aging probes as possible.