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Ulysses Spacecraft on its Last Legs
doconnor writes "JPL announced that Ulysses' mission will be ending after 17 years. The power generated by the decay of a radioactive isotope has been slowly decreasing. To conserve power its main transmitter was shut off. Unfortunately due to a fault in its power supply it cannot be turned back on. The team plans to continue operating the spacecraft in its reduced capacity, using the alternate S-band transmitter, for as long as they can over the next few weeks." Congratulations to all the geniuses involved in this one.
No, no. It's more like buying a$ 71M car with the expectation of driving it for 5 years, then driving it for 20. Use a pre-established analogy!