The Voyager probes have entered a new phase of operations. As recent events have shown, keeping the venerable spacecraft running is challenging as the end of their mission nears.

As with much of the Voyager team nowadays, Kareem Badaruddin, a 30-year veteran of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), divides his time between the twin Voyager spacecraft and other flight projects. He describes himself as a supervisor of chief engineers but leaped at the chance to fill the role on the Voyager project. //

With physical hardware long gone, the team has an array of simulators. "We have a very clear understanding of the hardware," said Badaruddin. "We know exactly what the circuitry is, what the computers are, and where the software runs."

And the software? It's complicated.

There have been so many tweaks and changes over the years that working out the exact revision of every part of Voyager's code is tricky. "It's usually easier to just get a memory readout from the spacecraft to find out what's on there," said Badaruddin.

We're sure there are more than a few engineers on Earth who are not entirely sure what their systems are running. The challenge for the Voyager team is that the spacecraft are nearing the half-century mark, as is the documentation. //

The Voyager spacecraft are unlikely to survive another decade. The power will eventually dwindle to the point where operations will be impossible. High data rates (relatively speaking – Voyager's high data rate is 1.4 kilobits per second) will only be supported by the current Deep Space Network (DSN) until 2027 or 2028. After that, some more creativity will be needed to operate Voyager 1's digital tape recorder.

Badaruddin speculates that shutting off another heater (the Bay One heater) used for the computers would free up power for the recorder, according to the thermal model, but it'll be a delicate balancing act. //

Badaruddin hopes to stick with the mission until the final transmission from the spacecraft.

"I love Voyager. I love this work. I love what I'm doing. It's so cool. It just feels like I've got the best job at JPL." ®. //

The Farthest
The Farthest is an excellent documentary on Voyager produced by a friend of mine, Clare Stronge.

Watch it here - https://youtu.be/1g6uFe3vZE0?si=BIQR-GjLt1E2a4Xh