Unfortunately, they were not able to stretch the reserve power as far as anticipated.
For now, the craft will continue operating with its four other instruments intact.
The craft loses about four watts of power each year from the decaying plutonium.
Theplasma science instrumentutilized four cups that observed plasma in space.
Three of them faced the Sun and observed solar wind while the craft was inside the heliosphere.
After reaching interstellar space in 2018, plasma flow into these three cups dipped significantly.
NASA’s Voyager 2 probe launched in 1977 along with its twin, Voyager 1.
They are the only human-made craft to reach interstellar space.
At present, Voyager 2 is more than 12.8 million miles from Earth.
