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arXiv:1103.5222physics.space-ph

Modelling the reflective thermal contribution to the acceleration of the Pioneer spacecraft

F. Francisco, O. Bertolami, P. J. S. Gil, J. Páramos

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Abstract

We present an improved method to compute the radiative momentum transfer in the Pioneer 10 & 11 spacecraft that takes into account both diffusive and specular reflection. The method allows for more reliable results regarding the thermal acceleration of the deep-space probes, confirming previous findings. A parametric analysis is performed in order to set an upper and lower-bound for the thermal acceleration and its evolution with time.

arXiv comments
Version accepted for publication in Physics Letters B. 19 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables
Journal reference
Phys. Lett. B 711 (2012) 337-346
DOI
doi:10.1016/j.asr.2011.10.016
Subjects
physics.space-phSpace Physics astro-ph.IMInstrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics gr-qcGeneral Relativity and Quantum Cosmology

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  1. Pioneer Anomaly Solved By 1970s Computer Graphics Technique 1 comment

    • The key conclusion, with error estimates: We performed 10^4 Monte Carlo iterations, which easily ensures the convergence of the result. The thermal acceleration estimate yielded by the simulation for an instant 26 years after launch, with a 95% probability, is a(t=26) = (5.8 ±…

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