The Source That Powered Voyagers For 44 Years In Space

The two Voyager spacecraft have been exploring the cosmos for more than 40 years. Today, Voyager 1 is the farthest spacecraft from Earth at more than 20 billion km. Even signals take more than 20 hours to get there. But have you ever wondered what kept these two spacecraft going? What’s the energy source that is powering the Voyagers? And most importantly, how long do we have before we lost contact with the two distant spacecraft? The second episode of the second season of the ‘Ever Wondered’ series will answer these questions.

Created by: Rishabh Nakra
Written by: Simran Buttar
Narrated by: Jeffrey Smith

The Secrets of the Universe on social media:

[FredPlanatia]

The half-life of the chosen isotope Pu238 for the RTGs is 88 years meaning every 88 years the amount of power generated by the RTG is halved. Currently (November 2021) Voyager 1 has 70% of its initial power at launch 44 years ago. Its 3 RTGs generated a total of 470W. Now that is reduced to 330W. This means only a fraction of the original instruments can be operated. In addition when Voyager 1 transmits data it must point its antenna at Earth (it now uses the trajectory adjustment thrusters for this) and it must have sufficient power to operate the transmitter. Eventually (2036) there will not be enough power to operate any of the instruments and Voyager 1 will pass to the ages, possibly outlasting planet Earth in the vastness of interstellar space.

[chrislangille]

Love the updates on Voyager. I've followed them since launch 40 years ago. Just note of correction on the video (5:40 in video). The chemical name for Curium is Cm, not Cu, which is of course, copper...

[philipcallicoat]

There's no word in any language that is sufficient to describe the enormous size of the universe... We haven't scratched the surface...

[abhaybajpai]

"Diving into the Sea of Eternal Silence" gave me inner peace....idk why

[docreyaz]

At 06:05 an important point to be noted: Nothing Lasts Forever!

[zlpatriot]

I wish I could go to space and catch up to Voyager 1 & 2 and give them a hug as they are in their final years. It's heartbreaking that the space probes I grew up admiring don't have much longer.

[edwawdhathcock]

We got a lot more out of it than we thought we ever would

[dragossorin]

I would have planed these missions a bit different by adding every 30-40 years another launch to have a chain connection extended as far as possible with the first ones having a serious nuclear fuel reserve

Quite mind bogging. Leave aside exploring space, this RTG itself is unique. Hats off to the scientists.

[superglue]

Don't tell me the Duracell Bunny has passed on....! God rest his big pink ears.

[rEdf]

I was a teenager in 1978 when a low earth orbiting Russian satellite Cosmos 954, also powered by a nuclear source, burned up over the northern Arctic region. I remember all the concern and worry about radioactive fallout.

[notsogreat]

It doesn't take any power for them to travel. A little for navigation adjustments maybe. The power is for the transmitter and instruments.

[felipegacitua]

I find this fascinating... but how is it that in 40 years it hasn't been hit by anything?

[skepticsapiens]

Hi. I just want to ask will nasa ever launch a space craft just like Voyager in the future?

[amirastogi]

Can you make a vedio of ISRO...i am curious to know what are they doing now and what are their future goals.
From india🇮🇳
Thankyou.

[lexington]

If power was not an issue, how long could we communicate with the Voyager space probes? As in how long until they would be out of radio range.

[karlad]

Kudos to all the Scientists who made Voyager possible😊👌🏼

[supreme--]

This thing Was Sent into Space a Couple Years Before i Was Born Cool and interesting.

[milantrcka]

Solar panels do not become inefficient in interstellar space. There is no "solar" to drive the panels. Efficiency remains the same. Infinitesimally small input = even less output.

[bouncegod_]

It blows my mind how scientists were able to figure out how to work these