How Long Will the Voyager Spacecraft Last?

For more than 40 years, the Voyager probes have traveled through space sending back all kinds of fascinating data. But these probes were never meant to send us data forever - so how much longer will these amazing probes last? Hosted by: Reid Reimers SciShow has a spinoff podcast! It s called SciShow Tangents. Check it out at http://www.scishowtangents.org ---------- Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow ---------- Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever: Kevin Carpentier, Eric Jensen, Matt Curls, Sam Buck, Christopher R Boucher, Avi Yashchin, Adam Brainard, Greg , Alex Hackman, Sam Lutfi, D.A. Noe, Piya Shedden, Scott Satovsky Jr.Charles Southerland, Patrick D. Ashmore, charles george, Kevin Bealer, Chris Peters ---------- Like SciShow? Want to help support us, and also get things to put on your walls, cover your torso and hold your liquids? Check out our awesome products over at DFTBA Records: http://dftba.com/scishow ---------- Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet? Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow Tumblr: http://scishow.tumblr.com Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishow ---------- Sources: https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/spacecraft/ https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/#sfos https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/science/thirty-year-plan/ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/life-unbounded/voyager-deconstructed/ https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2003/11/what-voyager-1-uses-for-fuel.html https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/images-voyager-took/ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7530 https://www.space.com/43158-what-spacecraft-will-enter-interstellar-space-next.html Image Sources: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Voyager_probes_with_the_outer_worlds.jpg https://www.nasa.gov/centers/hq/home/index.html https://images.nasa.gov/details-NHQ_2017_0267_VF_NASA%20Celebrates%2040%20Years%20of%20the%20Voyager%20Mission https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/illustrations/#gallery-7 https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/illustrations/#gallery-8 https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/news/details.php?article_id=112 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hydrazin.svg https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/voyager-1-fires-up-thrusters-after-37 https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/downloads/#gallery-posters-4 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MHW-RTGs.gif https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plutonium_pellet.jpg https://rps.nasa.gov/power-and-thermal-systems/thermal-systems/light-weight-radioisotope-heater-unit/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Voyager_Program_-_RTG_diagram_1.png https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Voyager_2_path.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Animation_of_Voyager_2_trajectory.gif https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Animation_of_Voyager_1_trajectory.gif https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Voyager_spacecraft_model.png https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA01384 https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA01362 https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/news/details.php?article_id=91 https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/11887/shepherd-satellites/ https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/spacecraft/instruments/ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Voyager_Program_-_spacecraft_diagram.png