Editing Voyager 1 (section)

=== 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" />
|}