The Legacy of the Pioneering Spacecraft of yester Year
April 6th 2011 11:43
Category: Space Probes
It has been 39 years since Pioneer 10 and 11 were launched.
Pioneer 10 made history in 1973 when it passed through the asteroid belt and captured the first close up images of Jupiter. Pioneer 10 is still working but only just. Poineer 10 is no longer being tracked due to lack of funding.
Pioneer 11's nuclear power supply is died some years ago. Pioneer 10 science mission ended in March 31, 1997 even at distance of 13 Billion kilometers periodic contact was still being made.
The twin 258-kilogram robotic space probes were the test subjects for the later Voyager series probes. The fact that these probes continued to work well passed their intended mission is a credit to space engineering. Both space craft are are heading off into interstellar space, flying passed our solar system and are the first craft ever to do so.
CURRENT MOON
A few anomalies have been observed over the past few decades regarding the amount of distance travelled by the space craft. The amount of distance travelled by the space craft was less than what It should have been. Data gathered at the time suggested that something strange was happening the space craft were being slowed by some unseen force.
Many theories abounded some suggesting that the Pioneers' interactions was due to the effects of the solar wind, solar radiation pressure, or interplanetary particles.
Other theorists suggested that the possible cause of the "Pioneer anomaly." Was being influenced by propellant tank leaks. The cause of the slow down effect was still a bit of a puzzle and remained so until a few years ago.
Scientists went back and did searches of most of the tracking data since the launch sifting through mountains of information and painstakingly reconstructing the probes' trajectory.
After many months of work the researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory concluded that the anomaly was caused by heat radiated by the space craft themselves.
The team found that waste heat from each spacecraft's main equipment bays was reflecting off the back of the 9-foot-wide (2.7-m) parabolic dish antenna the main communication antenna used to contact Earth. The actual amount to heat radiated or dispersed by the space craft was never fully quantified.
The test data suggests that the amount of heat radiated by the space craft was sufficient to cause a slow down effect. Radiant heat loss is the most plausible explanation.
It seems for the time being the “anomaly” that caused the space craft to slow down has for now been solved. No doubt that in the years to come they may be an alterative explanation but with the current information we have the matter can rest.
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Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
Comment by CarlCan
Astroearth
Camera Sense
Yes, sadly those days are now long gone.