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Voyager 2 turned off a heater, the first in a series of choices NASA will have to make as the probe and its twin face ever-shrinking power supplies. //
Power is a scarce commodity on the pair of spacecraft because they run on nuclear-power sources that become less and less efficient over time. By now, each of the three generators on each probe is making only about 60% of the power they did when the Voyagers launched. Engineers on the mission have been grappling with the challenge for years already and knew it would only become more pressing as the spacecraft continue their journey. //
Despite the aging pains the geriatric duo are facing, nine instruments between the two spacecraft are still working out of the 20 that took flight. And NASA personnel on the mission are confident these most-distant explorers will continue to gather valuable observations about our solar system and its surroundings.