NASA Engineers Extend Life of Voyager Spacecraft with Software Patch and Thruster Adjustments

Creative interventions like thruster adjustments and a software patch to address glitch, will extend the Voyager mission's lifespan by at least five years, which continues to provide scientists with invaluable data from the solar system's boundary.

NASA has transmitted a software patch to the Voyager spacecrafts to resolve an issue with onboard computers that first occurred in 2022, likely to extend the Voyagers' life by at least five years.
Engineers, observing a problematic buildup of propellant residue in the narrow fuel lines of the thrusters, have sent new commands to allow the spacecraft to rotate further before triggering the thrusters.
The rotation adjustments are expected to reduce the frequency of thruster firings, partially mitigating the residue issue and prolonging operational capacity.
Despite these preventive measures, occasional data loss is anticipated due to the increased spacecraft rotation. However, NASA believes this plan will enable more data return in the long run.
NASA has chosen to first apply the software patch on Voyager 2 instead of Voyager 1 due to the spacecrafts' differing distances from Earth, and the latter's data being more valuable due to its further travel.