Study of the Pioneer anomaly: A problem set

Abstract

Analysis of the radio-metric tracking data from the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft at distances between 20 and 70 astronomical units from the Sun has consistently indicated the presence of an anomalous, small, and constant Doppler frequency drift. The drift is a blueshift, uniformly changing at the rate of (5.99±0.01)×10−9Hz∕s. The signal also can be interpreted as a constant acceleration of each spacecraft of (8.74±1.33)×10−8cm∕s2 directed toward the Sun. This interpretation has become known as the Pioneer anomaly. We provide a problem set based on the detailed investigation of this anomaly, the nature of which remains unexplained.