Data was copied regularly and stored in several different locations.
Some archives were kept inside large habitats.
Others were placed in quiet areas of space where there was little risk of damage.
Automatic repair systems watched over these storage units and corrected problems when they appeared.
Because of this careful protection, the records remained safe even as time continued passing.
Scientists also continued observing the slow changes of the universe.
Although most bright stars had disappeared, some rare energy sources still existed.
Researchers studied black holes, neutron stars, and other unusual objects that still produced small amounts of energy.
They also studied the slow decay of particles that filled space.
These processes happened very slowly, but they still revealed important information about the laws of physics.
Many experiments lasted for extremely long periods.
Some instruments operated for millions of years while collecting data.
