Coal sceptics say the dirtiest of fossil fuels will inevitably be squeezed out in Europe as new solar and wind capacity comes on stream and ageing coal plants are shut down.
The good news is that many of the sensitive wafers which had been collecting particles of solar wind (charged atoms and molecules that stream out of the sun) survived the subsequent crash intact.
Voyager 1 was only meant to survive five years in space when it was launched in 1977 and yet since then it has been sending back a steady stream of data, including spectacular photographs of the Solar System.
Solar stocks made a nice move Monday, propelled higher by a steady stream of alarming news about radiation leaks and explosions at various quake-damaged nuclear facilities in Japan.