NASA has powered down the Plasma Science (PLS) instrument on the Voyager 2 spacecraft to conserve energy as it travels approximately 13 billion miles from Earth.

The command to deactivate the PLS, which observed solar winds, was sent on September 26, and it took 19 hours for the message to reach the spacecraft.

Despite its diminishing power supply, NASA anticipates Voyager 2 will continue operating at least one science instrument into the 2030s.

The 47-year-old probe relies on three radioisotope thermoelectric generators that convert heat from decaying plutonium into electricity.

The PLS was crucial for gathering data about solar winds and helped confirm Voyager 2’s exit from the heliosphere in 2018, CNN has reported.

The mission team has prioritized keeping the instruments operational for as long as possible due to the unique scientific data provided by the Voyager probes in interstellar space.

Written by B.C. Begley