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.

Engineers working on NASA's Voyager 1 probe have successfully mitigated an issue with the spacecraft's thrusters, which keep the distant explorer pointed at Earth so that it can receive commands, send engineering data,

Engineers needed to swap out the clogged thrusters on the spacecraft as it continues its journey through interstellar space.

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.