Hello!
I read an article a few months back that posed an interesting enigma. It stated that the data from the old voyager probes indicated that they were decelerating. I haven't found anything on this since and am wondering if this was incorrect or a hoax.
I believe the article was in Discover magazine. Anyone know anything about this?

The Voyager project website makes no mention of it. Searching Discover online comes up with nothing.

Here is a link to the Voyager project. (The weekly status report is there.)

http://vraptor.jpl.nasa.gov/

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Valiant Dancer

Follow up.

Pioneer 10 and 11 was stated as slowing on CNN.com on May 21, 2001. That effect was not reported on the Voyager spacecraft and speculation was that the propulsion systems may have played a part in the "mystery force" that was slowing Pioneer. Also that the orentaion of the probes in regards to Sol was also a possible reason. An earlier idea that Pioneer 10 had an encounter with a TNO was later discarded. (per article.)

Link to article: http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space/0...avity.mystery/

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Valiant Dancer

Thank you for the link, it was very informative. Sorry I was miskaken about which mission probe was at issue.

Ps- Boy those are two tough little machines! I remember the Jupiter and Saturn images coming in when I was in High School, and how stunning they were, it is good to know they are still relaying data. Now I don't feel quite so old.

Primarily it is Pioneer, but anomalous accelerations have been reported also for Galileo and Ulysses. There seems to be little dispute but that the motion of the spacecraft do not match with predictions, but the cause of the anomaly remains a matter of debate, ranging from mundane but unanticipated conventional forces, to a new, hitherto unknown force.

<ul>[*]arXiv search on Pioneer[/list]

Here's the latest paper on the subject (WARNING: honking fat PDF file!):

http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/gr-qc/pdf/0104/0104064.pdf

My bad - there are later papers that address the conclusions of this one. (You can do the ArXiv search indicated above to find them.) Still arguing over whether something funky is going on or whether it can be reasonably explained.

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Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.

I AGREE.

Anyone Want to Fight about it?

You resurrected a six-year-old thread for that?

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Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.

No, he resurrected it in order to settle this question once and for all.

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Fiction has to be plausible. Reality is under no such constraint.

Anyone wanna revive a really old thread?

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Yep.


Wanna fight about it?

It was a moment of attitude. Someone was whining when a Newly Joined member resurrected an old thread to introduce relevant and on topic information (Albeit CT) to the thread.

I don't get it.

If someone resurrects an Old thread and posts information- they get Jumped on for thread necromancy.

If they start a new thread- they get Jumped on Because there already exists five threads on that exact same subject already (Yes even OLD ones...).

Make Up Your Minds BAUTers.