Deep‑space probes hit power limits

Decades‑old interstellar probes are now encountering unavoidable radioisotope‑power decline that forces engineers to switch off instruments and reconfigure systems to squeeze out more lifetime. Those stopgap procedures (single‑instrument triage, coordinated low‑power swaps) buy months or years but expose a structural constraint on how long human technology can keep producing science in deep space. — This highlights policy and budget tradeoffs—investing in radioisotope production, designing for low‑power longevity, and deciding how much public money to spend to keep iconic probes sending marginal science for years.