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by kevin_thibedeau 1042 days ago
Modern space electronics cannot last this long. It would require a significant effort to design similar hardware and have it fabbed today. Modern missions want capabilities that necessitate high transistor counts and that forces feature sizes that will never be robust against radiation effects over long durations.
1 comments

Cassini lasted 20 years (1997-2017) and was functioning fine all along. It was intentionally ended, but there had been talk of sending it on another 20 year cruise to Uranus.

New Horizons is similar, now at 18 years since launch and still counting.

They're not quite 50 yet, but there's no reason to think either couldn't make it that long.

CNSA is planning to launch a pair of spacecraft next year that will flyby Jupiter on trajectories reminiscent of Voyagers 1 and 2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_Express