Editing Voyager 1 (section)

== Future of the probe ==
{| class="wikitable floatright" style="<!--{{float style|margin=1em}} -->text-align:center; font-size:0.9em;"
|+ Interstellar velocity {{nowrap|(<math>v_\infty</math>)}}
|-
! Probe !! Velocity {{nowrap|(<math>v_\infty</math>)}}
|-
| ''[[Pioneer 10]]'' || {{cvt|11.8|km/s|au/years|2}}
|-
| ''[[Pioneer 11]]'' || {{cvt|11.1|km/s|au/years|2}}
|-
| ''Voyager 1'' || {{cvt|16.9|km/s|au/years|2}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Voyager Fast Facts |url=https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/frequently-asked-questions/fast-facts/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522131332/https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/frequently-asked-questions/fast-facts/ |archive-date=May 22, 2022 |access-date=September 27, 2019}}</ref>
|-
| ''[[Voyager 2]]'' || {{cvt|15.2|km/s|au/years|2}}
|-
| ''[[New Horizons]]'' || {{cvt|12.6|km/s|au/years|2}}
|}

=== Remaining lifespan ===
[[File:Voyager 1 Radio Signal 21 Feb 2013.jpg|thumb|upright|An image of ''Voyager 1''{{'}}s radio signal on February 21, 2013.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 5, 2013 |title=Voyager Signal Spotted By Earth Radio Telescopes |work= |publisher=NASA TV |url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/multimedia/pia17047.html |url-status=live |access-date=May 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514223557/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/multimedia/pia17047.html |archive-date=May 14, 2015}}</ref>]]

In December 2017, NASA successfully fired all four of ''Voyager 1''{{'}}s trajectory correction maneuver (TCM) thrusters for the first time since 1980. The TCM thrusters were used in the place of a degraded set of jets to help keep the probe's antenna pointed towards Earth. Using the TCM thrusters allowed ''Voyager 1'' to continue transmitting data to NASA for two to three more years.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 4, 2017 |title=Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fire up after decades idle |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/voyager-1-spacecraft-thrusters-fire-up-after-decades-idle-1.3315654 |url-status=live |access-date=December 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428121442/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/voyager-1-spacecraft-thrusters-fire-up-after-decades-idle-1.3315654 |archive-date=April 28, 2019}}</ref><ref name=thrusters/>

Due to the diminishing electrical power available, the Voyager team has had to prioritize which instruments to keep on and which to turn off. Heaters and other spacecraft systems have been turned off one by one as part of power management. The fields and particles instruments that are the most likely to send back key data about the heliosphere and interstellar space have been prioritized to keep operating. Engineers expect the spacecraft to continue operating at least one science instrument until around 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Voyager – Frequently Asked Questions |url=https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/frequently-asked-questions/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813133216/https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/frequently-asked-questions/ |archive-date=August 13, 2023 |access-date=June 26, 2020 |website=voyager.jpl.nasa.gov |language=en}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! End of specific capabilities as a result of the available electrical power limitations
|-
| 1998 || Termination of Ultraviolet Spectrometer (UVS)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Voyager – Mission Status |url=https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101025244/https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/ |archive-date=January 1, 2018 |access-date=January 1, 2019 |publisher=[[NASA]]}}</ref>
|-
| 2007 || Termination of plasma subsystem (PLS)<ref name="nasa">{{Cite web |title=Voyager: Operations Plan to the End Mission |url=https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/science/thirty-year-plan/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200910162755/https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/science/thirty-year-plan/ |archive-date=September 10, 2020 |access-date=August 24, 2020 |publisher=[[NASA]]}}</ref>
|-
| 2008 || Power off Planetary Radio Astronomy Experiment (PRA)<ref name="nasa" />
|-
| 2016|| Termination of scan platform and Ultraviolet Spectrometer (UVS) observations<ref>{{Cite web |title=Voyager – Mission Status |url=https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105051652/https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/ |archive-date=November 5, 2019 |access-date=September 1, 2017 |website=voyager.jpl.nasa.gov}}</ref>
|-
| Unknown date || Start shutdown of science instruments ({{as of|2010|10|18|lc=y|df=US}} the order is undecided, however the Low-Energy Charged Particles, Cosmic Ray Subsystem, Magnetometer, and Plasma Wave Subsystem instruments are expected to still be operating)<ref name="nasa" />
|-
| Unknown date || Termination of Data Tape Recorder (DTR) operations (limited by ability to capture 1.4&nbsp;kbit/s data using a 70&nbsp;m/34&nbsp;m antenna array; this is the minimum rate at which the DTR can read out data).<ref name="nasa" />
|-
| Unknown date || Termination of [[gyroscope|gyroscopic]] operations (previously 2017, but backup thrusters active for continuation of gyroscopic operations).<ref name="nasa" />
|-
| 2025–2036 || Will no longer be able to power even a single instrument. After 2036, both probes will be out of range of the [[NASA Deep Space Network|Deep Space Network]].<ref name="jet propulsion laboratory" />
|}

=== Concerns with the orientation thrusters ===
Some [[Spacecraft propulsion|thrusters]] needed to control the attitude of the spacecraft and point its high-gain antenna in the direction of Earth are out of use due to clogging problems in their [[hydrazine]] lines. The spacecraft no longer has a backup available for its thruster system and "everything onboard is single-string," according to Suzanne Dodd, Voyager project manager at JPL, in an interview with ''[[Ars Technica]]''.<ref name="clark-2023">{{Cite web |last=Clark |first=Stephen |date=October 24, 2023 |title=NASA wants the Voyagers to age gracefully, so it's time for a software patch |url=https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/10/nasa-wants-the-voyagers-to-age-gracefully-so-its-time-for-a-software-patch/ |access-date=October 27, 2023 |website=Ars Technica |archive-date=October 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027215228/https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/10/nasa-wants-the-voyagers-to-age-gracefully-so-its-time-for-a-software-patch/ |url-status=live }}</ref> NASA has accordingly decided to modify the spacecraft's computer software in order to reduce the rate at which the hydrazine lines clog. NASA will first deploy the modified software on ''Voyager 2'', which is less distant from Earth, before deploying it on ''Voyager 1''.<ref name="clark-2023" />

In September 2024, NASA performed a "thruster swap", switching from a clogged set of thrusters to less clogged ones that had not been used since 2018.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rabie |first1=Passant |title=NASA Pulls Off Delicate Thruster Swap, Keeping Voyager 1 Mission Alive |url=https://gizmodo.com/nasa-pulls-off-delicate-thruster-swap-keeping-voyager-1-mission-alive-2000497434 |website=Gizmodo |access-date=26 September 2024 |date=11 September 2024}}</ref>

=== Far future ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:VoyagerOne Aug 2 2018.png|A simulated view of ''Voyager 1'' relative to the Solar System on August 2, 2018.
File:Voyagerprobes Aug 2 2018.png|A simulated view of the Voyager probes relative to the Solar System and heliopause on August 2, 2018.
File:NearSunStarsSimple.jpg|In about 50,000 years ''Voyager 1'' will be as distant as several nearby stars
</gallery>

Provided ''Voyager 1'' does not collide with anything and is not retrieved, the ''[[New Horizons]]'' space probe will never pass it, despite being launched from Earth at a higher speed than either Voyager spacecraft. The Voyager spacecraft benefited from multiple planetary flybys to increase its heliocentric velocities, whereas ''New Horizons'' received only a single such boost, from its Jupiter flyby in 2007. {{As of|2018}}, ''New Horizons'' is traveling at about {{Convert|14|km/s|mi/s|abbr=unit}}, {{Convert|3|km/s|mi/s|abbr=unit}} slower than ''Voyager 1'', and New Horizons, being closer to the sun, is slowing more rapidly.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 17, 2006 |title=New Horizons Salutes Voyager |url=http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/news_center/news/081706.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113224847/http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/news_center/news/081706.php |archive-date=November 13, 2014 |access-date=November 3, 2009 |publisher=New Horizons}}</ref>

''Voyager 1'' is expected to reach the theorized Oort cloud in about 300 years<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catalog Page for PIA17046 |url=https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17046 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612114300/https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17046 |archive-date=June 12, 2020 |access-date=April 27, 2014 |website=Photo Journal |publisher=NASA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=September 12, 2013 |title=It's Official: Voyager 1 Is Now In Interstellar Space |url=https://www.universetoday.com/104717/its-official-voyager-1-is-now-in-interstellar-space/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230182842/https://www.universetoday.com/104717/its-official-voyager-1-is-now-in-interstellar-space/ |archive-date=December 30, 2019 |access-date=April 27, 2014 |website=UniverseToday}}</ref> and take about 30,000 years to pass through it.<ref name="ghose-2013" /><ref name="cook-2013b" /> Though it is not heading towards any particular star, in about 40,000 years, it will pass within {{Convert|1.6|ly|pc|lk=on|abbr=off}} of the star [[Gliese 445]], which is at present in the constellation [[Camelopardalis]] and 17.1 light-years from Earth.<ref name="nasa-2010" /> That star is generally moving towards the Solar System at about {{convert|119|km/s|km/h mph|abbr=on}}.<ref name="nasa-2010">{{Cite web |date=August 9, 2010 |title=Voyager – Mission – Interstellar Mission |url=https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/interstellar.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120514175011/http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/interstellar.html |archive-date=May 14, 2012 |access-date=March 17, 2011 |publisher=NASA}}</ref> NASA says that "The Voyagers are destined{{snd}}perhaps eternally{{snd}}to wander the Milky Way."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Future |url=https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/interstellar.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120514175011/http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/interstellar.html |archive-date=May 14, 2012 |access-date=October 13, 2013 |publisher=NASA}}</ref> In 300,000 years, it will pass within less than 1 light-year of the M3V star TYC 3135–52–1.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bailer-Jones |first1=Coryn A.L. |last2=Farnocchia |first2=Davide |date=April 3, 2019 |title=Future stellar flybys of the Voyager and Pioneer spacecraft |journal=Research Notes of the AAS |volume=3 |issue=4 |page=59 |arxiv=1912.03503 |bibcode=2019RNAAS...3...59B |doi=10.3847/2515-5172/ab158e |s2cid=134524048 |doi-access=free}}</ref>