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http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/...echalert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=120612
I believe this settles it.
I believe this settles it.
We also calculated the thermal recoil force on the spacecraft using just the Doppler data, by computing the force needed to match the probes’ trajectories. When we compared this independent estimate with the one derived from the spacecraft model, we found that the two values matched within 20 percent. Once uncertainties are taken into account, there is no statistically significant difference. Three decades after its discovery, we can now say there is no exotic cause for the Pioneer anomaly: The puzzling deceleration was produced by the asymmetric radiation of waste heat created onboard the spacecraft .
Enthalpy said:I'm extremely skeptical about this "explanation" since it was one of the first dismissed by the same authors in their original paper.
Among the many dozens of explanations refuted then, thermal recoil was one of the simplest and the effect has been checked by so many people.
Maui2001 said:According to the information contained in the following paper, asymmetric heat dissipation should only account for about half of the anomalous acceleration at most:
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10509-011-0789-4
Maui2001 said:In other words, since the data for Pioneer anomaly doesn’t fit their model, they claim that the data itself is wrong, not the model. Sounds a bit backwards, don’t you think?
The Pioneer Anomaly is the unexpected acceleration observed in the trajectory of the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecrafts as they traveled away from the Sun in the outer solar system. This anomaly was first detected in the 1980s and has been a subject of scientific investigation ever since.
The exact cause of the Pioneer Anomaly is still unknown, but it is believed to be caused by uneven heat radiation from the spacecrafts' power sources. This radiation creates a small but consistent force that affects the spacecrafts' trajectories.
The Pioneer Anomaly was first discovered by analyzing the radio signals sent from the spacecrafts back to Earth. Scientists noticed that the spacecrafts were decelerating at a faster rate than expected, leading to the discovery of the anomaly.
While there have been many proposed explanations for the Pioneer Anomaly, it has not been definitively solved. Some solutions have been ruled out through further analysis, but the exact cause of the anomaly is still a subject of ongoing research and debate.
The Pioneer Anomaly has prompted scientists to re-evaluate our understanding of physics and the laws of gravity. It has also highlighted the importance of precise measurements and the need for further study and research. However, the anomaly has not significantly impacted space exploration as it has only affected spacecrafts in the outer solar system and not those in closer orbits.