Launched in 1977, the Voyager 2 spacecraft is more than 12 billion miles (20 billion kilometres) from Earth, using five science instruments to study interstellar space. To help keep those instruments operating despite a diminishing power supply, the ageing spacecraft has begun using a small reservoir of backup power set aside as part of an onboard safety mechanism. The move will enable the mission to postpone shutting down a science instrument until 2026, rather than this year.
Switching off a science instrument will not end the mission. After shutting off one instrument in 2026, the probe will continue to operate four science instruments until the declining power supply requires another to be turned off. If Voyager 2 remains healthy, the engineering team anticipates the mission could potentially continue for years to come.
Read more at NASA's Voyager pages: https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov