“旅行者1号”及 “旅行者2号”向太阳系边缘飞行的时间已经超过了地球大部分人口的年龄。

美国国家航空航天局（NASA）发射的“旅行者1号”（Voyager 1）太空探测器(上图为艺术家绘制的“旅行者1号”飞行想象图)目前正在太阳系最外层边界和星际介质之间飞行，它的一台仪器正在空前低的温度环境下中运作。

为了降低能耗，航行管理人员在12月关闭了飞船某一部分的一个加热器，将其紫外线光谱仪的温度降低了23摄氏度以上，它目前在零下79摄氏度的环境中运作，达到前所未有的最低温度。关闭该加热器一事经过了慎重考虑，目的在于节省电力，使飞船能够在2025年前继续收集并发回数据。

科学家们和航行管理人员将继续监控光谱仪的工作状况。“旅行者1号”于1979年和1980年分别与土星和木星相遇时，其状态非常活跃。自那时以来，一个由法国科学家率领的国际团队一直担负着分析光谱仪数据的任务。

被关闭的加热器实际上是邻近的一个红外光谱仪的一部分，自1998年起该光谱仪就已停止运作。

按紫外线光谱仪原来的设计，它可在低至零下35摄氏度的环境中运作。但是，当位于其周围的加热器在过去17年中被渐次关闭后，它在比原来低得多的温度中仍一直在继续运作。自2005年以来，它就一直在零下56摄氏度的环境中运作。该仪器在附近的加热器被关闭后仍然继续运作这一事实让工程师们备受鼓舞。（该光谱仪很可能在低于零下79摄氏度的环境中运作，但那个温度已经是温度监测器的极限。）

在世界人口的60%不到30岁的情况下， “旅行者1号”及其姐妹太空探测器“旅行者2号” 向太阳系边缘孤独地飞行的时间已经超过了地球大部分人口的年龄。

如需有关“旅行者”飞船的更多资料，请访问http://www.nasa.gov/voyager and

http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov.

Now flying through a region between the solar system and interstellar space, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is operating one of its instruments at temperatures lower than ever.

Now flying through a region between the solar system and interstellar space, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft (shown above in an artist’s conception) is operating one of its instruments at temperatures lower than ever.

To reduce power consumption, mission managers turned off a heater on part of the spacecraft in December, dropping the temperature of its ultraviolet spectrometer by more than 23 degrees Celsius. It is now operating at a temperature below minus 79 degrees Celsius, the coldest temperature that the instrument has ever endured. This heater shut-off is a step in the careful management of the diminishing electrical power so the Voyager spacecraft can continue to collect and transmit data through 2025.

Scientists and mission managers will continue to monitor the spectrometer’s performance. It was very active during Voyager 1’s encounters with Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980, and since then an international team led by scientists in France has been analyzing the spectrometer’s data.

The shut-off heater was actually part of the nearby infrared spectrometer, which has not been operational since 1998.

The ultraviolet spectrometer was originally designed to operate at temperatures as low as minus 35 degrees Celsius, but it has continued to operate in ever chillier temperatures as heaters around it have been turned off over the last 17 years. Since 2005, it has been operating at minus 56 degrees Celsius. Engineers are encouraged that the instrument has continued to operate even after the nearby heater was turned off. (The spectrometer is likely operating at a temperature somewhat lower than minus 79 degrees Celsius, but the temperature detector does not go any lower.)

With 60 percent of the world’s population under 30, Voyager 1 and its twin Voyager 2 have been travelling their lonely routes to the edge of the solar system for longer than most people on Earth have been alive.

For more information about the Voyager spacecraft, visit http://www.nasa.gov/voyager and http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov.