Everything went back to normal, but the Voyager 2 probe could have been lost forever. This January 25, the Voyager 2 probe encountered a failure: a lack of energy led to a switch to emergency backup mode.
Voyager 2 is equipped with reactors that convert plutonium into electricity. Unfortunately, since the launch of the probe in 1977, the quality of plutonium has deteriorated and does not allow to produce as much energy as before. Faced with a drop in electrical production, the probe automatically placed itself in emergency backup mode, with the obligation for NASA to intervene remotely.
The probe carried out a rather complex maneuver which consists in turning on itself to collect various measurements. However, this maneuver required more energy than what the reactors were capable of producing.
In emergency backup mode, the probe stops almost all activity and only maintains its vital systems as well as communications with the Earth in activity.
But at 18.5 billion km, it took 17 hours for the information to reach NASA, which had to analyze the situation, make a decision and send the code back to the probe, then again 5 hours for the signal reaches Voyager-2 with the new instructions.
According to NASA, the probe has resumed its progress. It is estimated that Voyager probes will no longer be functional by 2025.
