After almost five decades sailing through space, NASA is trying to squeeze a few more years out of the venerable Voyager 1 deep space probe by swapping a wonky thruster system for a disused secondary one to ensure the craft can keep its radio antenna pointing at the Earth.

Voyager 1 spent the last 47 years hurtling in a straight line away from Earth, exploring the deepest reaches of space that humanity has ever ventured. However, NASA must carefully manage Voyager 1 as the probe ages and slowly breaks down 15 billion miles away from the closest person.