Voyager 1 has avoided significant damage by space debris because space is very empty and space is very, very big, so there's generally nothing in its path to hit except for a few stray solar wind ions.
They rely on radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG) for their energy. Each of the Voyager probes has three RTGs, and they use plutonium 238 for their fuel source. As that isotope decays, it produces heat which is converted to electrical energy.
UPDATE 8/31: NASA engineers discovered that the probe's attitude articulation and control system (AACS) had switched to sending its telemetry data through an onboard computer that hadn't worked for years(Opens in a new window), causing it to become corrupted.
Electrical power is supplied by three Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs). The current power levels are about 249 watts for each spacecraft. As the electrical power decreases, power loads on the spacecraft must be turned off in order to avoid having demand exceed supply.
Voyager 1 got through the asteroid belt by flying between the enormous gaps between asteroids. Asteroids are, in general, about 1 million km (600,000 mi) apart, making accidentally hitting one extremely unlikely, and making actually getting a satellite to an asteroid, any asteroid, a matter of precise calculations.
In August 2012, Voyager 1 became the first spacecraft to cross into interstellar space. However, if we define our solar system as the Sun and everything that primarily orbits the Sun, Voyager 1 will remain within the confines of the solar system until it emerges from the Oort cloud in another 14,000 to 28,000 years.
After Voyager 1 took its last image (the "Solar System Family Portrait" in 1990), the cameras were turned off to save power and memory for the instruments expected to detect the new charged particle environment of interstellar space. Mission managers removed the software from both spacecraft that controls the camera.
Both Voyagers are expected to last another five years or so until their batteries die out. Both are powered by electricity generated by the heat of radioactive plutonium.
Voyager 1 has reached a distance of 23.381 billion km (14.528 billion mi; 156.29 AU) from Earth and 23.483 billion km (14.592 billion mi; 156.97 AU) from the Sun.
Parting Shot. After taking the images for “The Family Portrait” at 05:22 GMT on Feb. 14, 1990, Voyager 1 powered down its cameras forever.
14, 1990, “Pale Blue Dot” and other images that made-up the “Family Portrait” collection were the last thing Voyager 1's cameras ever did. Just 34 minutes later, NASA mission managers sent commands to Voyager 1 to power its cameras down to save power for its long, long journey into interstellar space.
It takes a while, but they do. The Voyagers transmit data to Earth every day. The spacecraft collect information about their surrounding environment in real time and then send it back through radio signals. Voyager 1 data takes about 19 hours to reach Earth, and signals from Voyager 2 about 16 hours.
Cons: The Voyager 1 is projected to run out of fuel around the year 2040, an indication of how limited in range conventional rockets and thrusters can carry a spacecraft.
Both Voyager probes rely on radioisotope thermoelectric generators. The nuclear power supply loses 4 watts per year as the plutonium it relies on slowly decays and its heat is converted into electricity. Over time, the Voyager team has commanded the probes to turn off instrument heaters and other nonessential systems.
At the moment, the distance between Voyager 1 and Earth is approximately 0.002 light years, or 14.3 light hours. Since its launch in 1977, it has been moving away from the sun and is now in interstellar space.
Nope. They have small amounts of hydrazine fuel left and have no possible way to slow down and head back. They are traveling very fast (Voyager 1 is at 38,088 mph or 17.027 km/s relative to the sun) and have very little ability to change speed now.
Voyager 1 is vastly too faint to see, even with the most powerful earthly telescopes.
NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft is no longer in communication with Earth due to an antenna misalignment; hope for resolution during October reset.
Caption Options. The computers aboard the Voyager probes each have 69.63 kilobytes of memory, total. That's about enough to store one average internet jpeg file.
Voyager's power supply comes from a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG), which turns heat from the decay of a radioactive material into electricity to power the spacecraft. Due to the natural decay of the material inside the RTG, Voyager 2's power budget goes down by about 4 watts per year.
Four and a half decades after launch and over 14 billion miles from Earth, Voyager 1 still makes new discoveries. The spacecraft has picked up the signature of interstellar space itself, a faint plasma "hum" scientists compared to gentle rain.
Since the coronavirus pandemic in mid-March, NASA has had no contact with Voyager 2, but an upgraded deep space network dish made a successful call on October 29. Here's the fascinating science that keeps us in touch with the most distant objects ever launched from Earth.
NASA (and ESA) have created multiple outer planet probes. But they are costly and there is no reason to repeat what has already been done. So each mission has a different aim and purpose. Often this means not doing a fly-by, but getting the probe in orbit around the planet.