If so, what kind of data are they collecting and how does it help scientists? Or if they can’t do that anymore, what kind of interesting data could they theoretically collect from interstellar space?
Doesn’t have to be more like ELI college graduate, but not in a science field
In: Planetary Science
Voyager 2 is still collecting some data and sends it back. Voyager 1 did that until December, at the moment it can’t send measurements back. It’s not the first issue with the probes, they might be able to fix it.
Both are powered by radioactive sources which lose power over time, so NASA had to shut off most sensors. It’s expected that the probes won’t have enough power to communicate with Earth within the next 15 years.
Both are still measuring the magnetic field, properties of the plasma they are flying through, and cosmic rays that hit them. Everything that resembles a camera has been shut off – needs too much power, and there isn’t much to take pictures of anyway. Wikipedia has tables:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_2#Scientific_instruments
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1#Scientific_instruments
Both Voyagers are more than 11 billion miles away from Earth, and are still communicating with NASA satellites. Very good bois, for sure.
Data currently being sent back is measurements of cosmic rays, magnetic fields, and particle data from interstellar space. The data helps us understand the boundary of the heliosphere, which is the protective bubble of particles from magnetic fields produced by the sun that envelops the planets as well as solar wind, and the transition from stellar space to interstellar.
The heliosphere is a shield for the solar system against cosmic radiation, and the data from its outer boundary may lead to an understanding into its size, shape, and structure, plus the interaction of particles entering or exiting the sphere.
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