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NASA finds anomaly affecting motion of spacecraft

space.com — Apparently at least 5 spacecraft, including Voyager 1 and 2, unexpectedly accelerate towards the sun.

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  • sc0rpi0n, on 03/01/2008, -37/+5Maybe it's a rounding error. A floating-point number of 1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 is not equal to 1. If you're a programmer, power up your IDE and set try that. If you're not a programmer, use Windows Calculator to add 1/3 (that is 0.33333333333333333333333333333333) three times. Don't multiply.
    • dusanmal, on 03/01/2008, -2/+29Not a rounding error... I am particularly aware of the Pioneer anomalies. Problem have been studied in depth way beyond the rounding errors because it has so far reaching consequences for our understanding of the gravity. Also, for the Earth fly-by missions measured discrepancies are 100 times greater than the precision of the measurement (as mentioned in this article).
      • masterm1nd, on 03/01/2008, -16/+2It doesn't have to be a rounding error. I don't think we can measure exactly, meaning the door is open to chaos theory...
        • TheKrillr, on 03/01/2008, -1/+5Chaos Theory: "the theory of non-linear functions, such that small differences in the input of the function can result in large and unpredictable differences in the output."

          While yes it /may/ have some affect on this, I highly doubt that such a uniform difference amongst many different situations would have occurred if this were truly a result of chaotic functions.
          • masterm1nd, on 03/01/2008, -2/+2You highly doubt it aye? Would it be an anomaly if you expected it? Can you explain what you mean by such a uniform difference amongst many different situations?
          • Killwize, on 03/02/2008, -1/+1Oh crap, More evidence supporting the Idea that the Earth wobbles every... some 100,000 years; restarting the civilizations! End of the Biblical/Mayan calendar sort of thing.

            There is much evidence but... Who knows? I basically think the magnetic poles are gonna change because of an orbital change.
            ...Needless to say that would probably be a bad situation. It might also explain climate change.

            I mean Earth's magnetic poles have flipped several times in the past.
    • nyx210, on 03/01/2008, -1/+7You can avoid that problem by doing calculations in exact form rather than doing math with floating-point numbers and having those rounding errors.
    • gyrfalcon, on 03/01/2008, -11/+6In other related news, NASA discovers gravity!
      • mbrindam, on 03/01/2008, -3/+4Yes. Thank you. I was surprised it wasn't said earlier!
  • ohbothergollly, on 03/01/2008, -24/+3Oh Come on- It is the magnetic force which when affected by gravity and speed cause a variance based upon the amount of magnetic force applied.
    • Dylson, on 03/01/2008, -2/+7Fail.
    • melonade, on 03/01/2008, -2/+18You are SOOOOOOOOOOO smart! Quick! Email NASA!
    • thebellmaster1x, on 03/02/2008, -1/+2EM and gravity are two completely different forces and are mediated by different particles. They cannot interact with each other.
      Regardless, in space, EM falls far short of the effects of gravity; things like planets and asteroids have much larger masses than they do EM fields.
  • SaneDrain, on 03/01/2008, -16/+11Why can't it be space dust? Micrometeorites are known to hit spacecraft closer to Earth. I doubt they know how empty is the space is near Voyager 1, since we've never been there before, so how could they rule it out? Space dust would be pulled toward the Sun, so this coincides with a force "pulling" in that direction.
    • EwMo, on 03/01/2008, -0/+4What would this have to do with the symmetry of passing the equator, when passing earth? (if that makes sense...)
    • tjmpaintball06, on 03/01/2008, -9/+20You don't think NASA scientists have already thought of that, they're some of the smartest people on the planet. I'm sure the conclusion you reached in all of thirty seconds has already been thought about for thirty hours.
      • SaneDrain, on 03/01/2008, -3/+6Yes, having worked there myself, I know that a small subset of people at NASA are smart. Whether or not those same people have thought about this problem, I don't know. Whether or not they've had the same thought as me, I don't know. Perhaps they thought of it and discarded it since it would difficult to test. And this wasn't a "conclusion". I'm not an idiot.
        • karmabandit, on 03/02/2008, -0/+0Then why not do a tiny amount of research and find out whether this was considered? If not, shame on them, because it's obvious. If so, you can find out the answer to your question. Oh, and don't be so sure that dust is pulled towards the sun, radiation pressure dominates over some range of particle sizes.
    • varun1s, on 03/01/2008, -1/+4Good point. Definitely something on the "list" of considerations.
    • jorisb, on 03/01/2008, -8/+3I also find it hard to believe that they could expect to calculate with pinpoint accuracy the location and velocity of a spacecraft. This is coming from the administration that suggest you could deploy a giant sail to capture the force of solar wind to take you out of the solar system.
      But then again, this article has been dumbed down considerably. And it is NASA, they hire some smart people I hear.
      • bluesnowmonkey, on 03/01/2008, -5/+3Administration? Science isn't done by bureaucrats.
        • jorisb, on 03/01/2008, -1/+7Yes, Administration.
          The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
      • Cl1mh4224rd, on 03/01/2008, -1/+11> "I also find it hard to believe that they could expect to calculate with pinpoint accuracy the location and velocity of a spacecraft."

        Why do you find it hard to believe? It's a trivial task to measure the delay in communications between the transmitter and receiver. There are a lot of other variables to consider when calculating the distance, but this is established science. Has been for many decades, and the measurements only get more precise.

        > "This is coming from the administration that suggest you could deploy a giant sail to capture the force of solar wind to take you out of the solar system."

        Jesus... Just how ignorant are you about space sciences? This effect is already being used by existing satellites for minor attitude adjustments.

        Wikipedia: "For example, EADS Astrium built Eurostar E3000 geostationary communications satellites use solar sail panels attached to their solar cell arrays to off-load transverse angular momentum, thereby saving fuel (angular momentum is accumulated over time as the gyroscopic momentum wheels control the spacecraft's attitude - this excess momentum must be offloaded to protect the wheels from overspin). Some unmanned spacecraft (such as Mariner 10) have substantially extended their service lives with this practice." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail

        This isn't some crackpot idea.
        • jorisb, on 03/01/2008, -4/+1I didn't make myself clear. I meant that ,because spacecraft move through the solar wind and dust, their orbits are altered by it. Thus making it more difficult to predict where their orbits should be. Think about it before throwing words like "trivial task" around like you invented the technology.
      • Sludgehammer, on 03/02/2008, -0/+1What's so hard to believe about a solar sail working? The sun is constantly blowing off stuff (light and plasma mainly) and if you build a large light-weight obstruction in front of it, it's gonna move.
    • yeti22, on 03/02/2008, -0/+1Who said it can't be space dust? I'm sure it's on the list of things to think about.
      The point is no one is sure, and there are a lot of potential explanations.
  • SQLDigger, on 03/01/2008, -5/+33Duh. Once you approach the boundary of the crystalline spheres, the bubble starts to push you back. God, some people . . .
  • nova912, on 03/01/2008, -24/+2WWJD imo
  • willynilly, on 03/01/2008, -6/+69All they have to do is reconfigure the deflector dish to emit a tritium beam and collapse the space/time anomaly.
    • Ridgedog, on 03/01/2008, -2/+46Lt. Commander Data recommends an Inverse tachyon pulse
      • robdiggity, on 03/01/2008, -4/+89He better, or else we'll be stuck in this goddamn time loop for another go around.
        • robdiggity, on 03/01/2008, -4/+89He better, or else we'll be stuck in this goddamn time loop for another go around.
          • robdiggity, on 03/01/2008, -5/+90He better, or else we'll be stuck in this goddamn time loop for another go around.
          • pixeldust, on 03/01/2008, -43/+1He better, or else we'll be stuck in this goddamn time loop for another go around.
          • Cl1mh4224rd, on 03/01/2008, -1/+17Epic win...
          • strictnein, on 03/01/2008, -2/+4Where time becomes a loop
            time becomes a loop Where
            becomes a loop Where time
            a loop Where time becomes
            loop Where time becomes a
            Where time becomes a loop
            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3TNmNytvi8
      • directive0, on 03/01/2008, -1/+4How about a coherent tachyon field?
      • sam98597, on 03/01/2008, -1/+8Don't forget to reverse the polarity!
    • barbobot, on 03/01/2008, -1/+5Like to much air into a balloon!

      /fry
    • lowerlogic, on 03/01/2008, -0/+4You sound like you know your stuff, you should apply for a job at NASA. I heard they were looking for someone who has done research on space-time normalization via tritium beam emissions, so be sure to add that to your resume.
  • talonstriker, on 03/01/2008, -2/+56Wow I never knew there were that many rocket scientists on digg.
    • paintpro, on 03/01/2008, -4/+54Your not a rocket scientist?! GTFO
      • TheKrillr, on 03/01/2008, -3/+8Wow... am i the only one who thinks it's hilarious that he said "Your not?"
    • caketank, on 03/01/2008, -1/+9I think they prefer "trekologists".
      • keithgplayer, on 03/01/2008, -1/+4I knew the Klingons were behind it.
    • jawnboy, on 03/01/2008, -3/+1I don't get it, you are at a site that is designed so people can post whatever inane opinion they have on a subject, but they shouldn't post unless they have degrees in the subject they are posting on? Yeah digg would survive for a week and be boring as hell.
    • giantnegro, on 03/02/2008, -0/+3I'm a rocket scientist, but I'm too drunk to make any substantive comments on this article.
  • caponumen, on 03/01/2008, -10/+9Manbearpig in space........
  • donkeySays, on 03/01/2008, -10/+3Some antimatter uncollided with it, thus thrusting it forwards; and hence the unexpected acceleration.
  • thundershot69, on 03/01/2008, -4/+5It's the Quagars!
    • Murdats, on 03/01/2008, -0/+22 r's!
    • ElwoodHerring, on 03/01/2008, -1/+3Wrong again. 2 a's. It's Quagaars! Every Red Dwarf fan knows that!
  • Railer, on 03/01/2008, -3/+55It might be just me, but I find a certain joy in knowing something thought as common place as the laws of gravity and motion still have mysteries that leave the brightest minds on the planet scratching their heads with awe.

    My children's, children's, children will still have great mysteries to solve and will be amazed by the answers they receive.
    • silversword990, on 03/01/2008, -0/+3And your great great grandfather said the same thing about your generation.
    • whahaa, on 03/01/2008, -4/+2wait... who ever thought gravity wasn't mysterious?
    • mufasa, on 03/01/2008, -1/+8I'm pretty confident that we'll never know everything about how this universe came to be, and how and why it all works as it does..
    • phatvolvo, on 03/01/2008, -1/+2at least they'll have apostrophes down. Well done. Shame about the commas.
    • chaosratt, on 03/02/2008, -0/+2Agreed. Science is continually evolving and expanding in its knowledge and understanding.
      Things we take for granted today would have been unthinkable as little as 50 years ago. I can only imagine the world and our understanding of it 50 years from now.
  • csupra, on 03/01/2008, -15/+6The sun is a W.M.D. we should invade it and liberate it. The sun will welcome us has liberators.
    • masterm1nd, on 03/01/2008, -2/+1Except the sun didn't brutally murder a million people now did it.
      • Kastang, on 03/01/2008, -1/+3Skin Cancer?
      • masterm1nd, on 03/01/2008, -2/+1Ok, maybe the sun has brutally murdered a million people. Invading and liberating the sun would not however, stop the sun from killing a million more people.
  • banido, on 03/01/2008, -14/+4The ability to send spacecrafts is insignificant next to the power of the Force.
  • over900000, on 03/01/2008, -6/+15I bet it's because they used both metric and non metric in their calculations
  • Maxmojo015, on 03/01/2008, -1/+3Professor Wernstrom would know what to do!
  • kronzdigg, on 03/01/2008, -7/+4DIGG EFFECT!
  • discdirectplay, on 03/01/2008, -9/+3Dupe. See original
    http://digg.com/space/NASA_Baffled_by_Unexplained_ ...
  • rharris, on 03/01/2008, -2/+12I knew it! Gravity -- it's just a theory.
    • TekTrixter, on 03/02/2008, -0/+2Intelligent Falling makes more sense than the scientists' theories.
      /s
  • moocow1452, on 03/01/2008, -6/+2Before we know it, Voyager 3 will be sent out to the Delta Quadrant with Amelia Earhart, and the super-evolved dinosaurs.
  • tjmpaintball06, on 03/01/2008, -2/+29You think thats air you're breathing?
  • Striff, on 03/01/2008, -1/+10NASA needs to figure out why the island in Lost is in a weird time space continuum before they figure this crap out.
  • fhornplayer, on 03/01/2008, -5/+1At first, I thought the description meant an unexplained force accelerated them uncontrollably *into* the sun.
    Disappointed.
  • BruceDude, on 03/01/2008, -14/+1"A decade ago, after rigorous analyses, anomalies were seen with the identical Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft as they hurtled out of the solar system. Both seemed to experience a tiny but unexplained constant acceleration toward the sun."


    Sounds like gravity to me. This article should be on The Onion.
    • BruceDude, on 03/01/2008, -9/+0Oh I see. I keep getting dug down. I apologize for my blasphemy.

      What I meant to say is: It's the force of God.
    • pw378, on 03/01/2008, -0/+1The sentence was incorrect. Actually Pioneer 10/11 are have experienced a tiny constant acceleration AWAY from the Sun, not toward it.
    • fhornplayer, on 03/01/2008, -0/+1I think what they were saying that some of the acceleration was unaccounted for, as in there was a greater acceleration than expected.
  • 3leggedHorse, on 03/01/2008, -7/+1 A bit irrelavent but 669600000 mph is the speed of light, nearest star about 4 light years away. ***** hope Einstein is wrong, or his rules can be bent.
    • strictnein, on 03/01/2008, -0/+1Easy. We'll just take a Einstein-Rosen bridge.
    • fhornplayer, on 03/01/2008, -0/+1What does the speed of light have to do with this, exactly?
    • JohnFlux, on 03/01/2008, -2/+2You can get to the nearest star and back in a day, if you go fast enough. It's just that everyone on earth would have aged 8 years while you were gone :-)
  • erkokite, on 03/01/2008, -3/+4Good. Hopefully this will lead to new physics, such as a working unification of QM and gravity, or gravity with other fundamental forces. With data coming in from Gravity Probe B and the LHC in the next few years, as well as tests for MOND and String Theory being worked out, and anomalies being found in some of our current data, there is much to learn. These are exciting times.
  • acrodev, on 03/01/2008, -3/+3When all of the questions have answers, new questions will always remain.
    • phatvolvo, on 03/01/2008, -0/+1Will it accelerate toward the sun?
  • WreckerOne, on 03/01/2008, -7/+0Guess:
    Probably, 'here and now' is a unique quantifiable property of the universe that is located here on earth and has a measurable (albeit difficultly) physical manifestation invalidating the cosmological principle. Physical properties of the universe are dependent on the unique frame of reference (here and now) of the unique mind experiencing it. Scientists and instruments are so close in space and time to this unique frame of reference, that the only way to detect these properties is to zoom past it at high velocity and close proximity. Basically, the physical shape and function of the universe is dependent on its beholder for large scales.
    • TobiasParker, on 03/01/2008, -0/+4umm...what?
      • WreckerOne, on 03/01/2008, -3/+0Space Dust.
        • TobiasParker, on 03/01/2008, -0/+3The Correct response was "Chicken Butt"
      • WreckerOne, on 03/01/2008, -1/+0Did you want a real response, or were you just doing the 'kid trying to be cool in front of his classmates at a junior high presentation' thing.
    • WreckerOne, on 03/01/2008, -2/+0Apparently, much like junior high, discussion isn't really valued here as much as one liners.

      Here you go: 'Ow my balls'

      entertained?
      • TobiasParker, on 03/02/2008, -0/+1I was really asking what then wrecker said "Space Dust" as if that was supposed to explain something.
    • GT35R, on 03/08/2008, -0/+1don't try to sound smart. everything you wrote is *****. doesnt even make any ***** sense.
  • SkateorDie, on 03/01/2008, -2/+3dark matter / dark energy?
  • gak001, on 03/01/2008, -0/+3V'ger would know the answer - let us ask of its infinite wisdom.
  • moxley, on 03/01/2008, -4/+2martianfarts?
  • giantnegro, on 03/01/2008, -0/+1WTF, there's no "Galileo II" spacecraft.
  • CATSCEO, on 03/01/2008, -2/+1You win again gravity!
  • mk47k, on 03/01/2008, -3/+2I think it is something to do with the mysterious force of gravity , if you watched the documentary about our limited understanding of it (BBC) then you might understand.
  • fusion5, on 03/01/2008, -3/+1"Astronomers define the termination shock zone as the place where the solar wind can no longer hold its own against the vast ocean of interstellar space particles" (Scientific American March 2008, Voyagers to the End (page 26))

    Isn't it be possible that the prologued exposure to those space particles modifies a body's acceleration?
    • chaosratt, on 03/02/2008, -0/+2Possible, but since there no craft that has reached the termination shock was ever designed with the intention of measuring it, no one knows exactly what those particles are, or what forces they might create.
    • yeti22, on 03/02/2008, -0/+1Of course they could. Who said they couldn't?
      But as chaosratt pointed out, no one has any idea how big an effect it might be.
    • Hollister, on 03/02/2008, -0/+1Aye, It be Possible.
  • frogman54, on 03/01/2008, -5/+1I'm going to go with extra-dimensional forces causing gravitons to become stronger in our space and time...OR...evil space monkeys.
  • bincoder, on 03/01/2008, -0/+5Not to worry, just a severe warp in spacetime, it's safe. Trust me.
  • concretewave, on 03/01/2008, -0/+5This is ridiculous. General Zod does not weigh enough to affect the flight of a spacecraft.
  • BobbyMC, on 07/21/2008, -3/+1Bao Dur activated the mass shadow generator on Mercury, and if a way to stop it isn't found this entire galaxy is *****.

    In terms silly US meatbags can understand, IT'S A TRAP.
  • shankydude, on 03/02/2008, -1/+1Captain Kirk already uses this anomaly for Time travel.
  • Livewired, on 03/02/2008, -0/+313mm per second faster than expected?!?
  • camino262, on 03/02/2008, -0/+3Oh come on NASA, you are flying through a warp trail left by a spacecraft doing warp 7.
  • Killwize, on 03/02/2008, -4/+2Oh crap, More evidence supporting the Idea that the Earth wobbles every... some 100,000 years; restarting the civilizations! End of the Biblical/Mayan calendar sort of thing.

    There is much evidence but... Who knows? I basically think the magnetic poles are gonna change because of an orbital change.
    ...Needless to say that would probably be a bad situation. It might also explain climate change.

    I mean Earth's magnetic poles have flipped several times in the past.
  • replaysMike, on 03/02/2008, -0/+2Nasa couldn't find anomolies in Uranus if it tried.
    • fuzzybeard, on 03/03/2008, -0/+2but could they find the Klingons circling Uranus?
      /Qa'Pla!
  • StarWarsFan, on 03/02/2008, -0/+2That's no sun... it's a space station!!!
    • fuzzybeard, on 03/03/2008, -0/+1You go for the power regulator on the north tower!
  • Sinudeity, on 03/03/2008, -0/+1The mysterious Planet X!
  • A11YND, on 03/03/2008, -0/+1This has been known for a long time now, its called the "Pioneer Anomaly" I believe.
  • joefizzix, on 03/03/2008, -0/+0Is the curl of g*me non zero?
  •  

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