Discover reports on a dedicated little space probe that’s still writing home to NASA (using 11 vital instruments) after four decades of hurtling away from home:
6. Low-Energy Charged Particle Instrument
SHUTDOWN DATE: Still activePURPOSE: Measure ions and their distribution in the outer solar system.
KEY FINDING: A violent burst of solar activity in 1993, coupled with the Low-Energy Charged Particle Instrument, helped researchers locate the heliopause (the boundary between the Sun’s solar wind and the interstellar medium).
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10. Planetary Radio Astronomy and Plasma Wave Antenna
SHUTDOWN DATE: 2008PURPOSE: Measure radio emissions from the gas giants.
KEY FINDING: It measured radio waves from Jupiter and Saturn, resulting in a creepy album called Voyager: Sound of the Cosmos which makes Jupiter sound like even more of a monster.
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There’s nine more at the link.