Every time my laptop or phone batteries run low, I go into panic mode. How am I supposed to live without my precious technology? I'll do whatever I have to to extend that battery life just a bit longer. Turn down the screen brightness. Turn off background apps. Farewell, Bluetooth. As it turns out, NASA's million-dollar nuclear-powered space probes run into the same problem and have essentially the same solutions.
Space.com reports that NASA can keep the Voyager 2's space mission up and running until 2026 with a fairly simple technique we've used for ages: turning stuff off. Originally the space probe was due for a complete shutdown this year because of a lack of power, but NASA found one last system it could shut down, postponing its retirement by at least three years.
