3 ms·

Is there any data on how long that should run for?

• schiffern 14y ago
  They can power down specific instruments to stay within the decaying threshold. Wikipedia has this timeline of instrument power-downs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1#Interstellar_mission http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1#Interstellar_mission
• tarre 14y ago
  Half-life of plutonium-238 is 87.7 years so there should be approximately half of the original power left after that time. Nowadays the power of the device is about 75 % of original.
  • InclinedPlane 14y ago
    You'd think so, in practice it doesn't work that way. A significant factor is degredation of the thermocouples due to heat and radiation. This causes the power output to drop faster than would be expected due to pu-238 decay alone. Right now current power levels are around 63% compared to launch, which would be the expected power level in the 2030s if radioactive decay were the only factor.