Voyager 1, launched in September 1977, is currently exploring the farthest edges of the solar system. (Image credit: NASA) NASA engineers have shut down another instrument on Voyager 1 to preserve the power of the most distant spacecraft ever sent into space. The Low-energy Charged Particles experiment (LECP) was turned off on Friday (April 17) to ensure Voyager 1 has more time available to continue its exploration of space beyond the solar system. Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 left the solar system on August 25, 2012, passing a bubble of charged particles called the Heliopause that marks the outer limit of the sun's cosmic backyard. As of this month, the spacecraft is the most distant man-made object from Earth at over 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) away. Voyager 1 and its interstellar-exploring twin Voyager 2 have been providing vital data about the so-called interstellar medium.…