The 1960s Tech Keeping NASA’s Voyager Probes Alive for Nearly 50 Years

Solar panels are next to useless in the outer solar system, so NASA’s Voyager probes rely on nuclear batteries—technology first developed in the 1960s—to keep running billions of miles from Earth.

Mar 19, 2025 - 15:23
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The 1960s Tech Keeping NASA’s Voyager Probes Alive for Nearly 50 Years
Illustration: Caltech/NASA-JPL

Solar panels are next to useless in the outer solar system, so NASA’s Voyager probes rely on nuclear batteries—technology first developed in the 1960s—to keep running billions of miles from Earth.