NASA Switches Off Instrument on Voyager 2 Spacecraft to Save Power

The "Sounds of Earth" record being mounted on the Voyager 2 spacecraft in the Safe-1 Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on Aug. 4, 1977. NASA/ AP Photo

NEW YORK—To save power, NASA has switched off another scientific instrument on its long-running Voyager 2 spacecraft.

The space agency said Tuesday that Voyager 2’s plasma science instrument—designed to measure the flow of charged atoms—was powered down in late September so the spacecraft can keep exploring for as long as possible, expected into the 2030s.