|
A space probe launched 30 years ago is under a mysterious force
field which is baffling scientists.
Researchers say Pioneer 10, which took the first close-up pictures
of Jupiter before leaving our solar system in 1983, is being pulled
back to the Sun by an unknown force.
The effect shows no sign of getting weaker as the spacecraft travels
deeper into space and scientists are considering the possibility
the probe has revealed a new force of nature.
Dr Philip Laing, a member of the research team tracking the craft,
told the Sunday Telegraph: "We have examined every mechanism
and theory we can think of and so far nothing works. If the effect
is real, it will have a big impact on cosmology and spacecraft navigation."
Pioneer 10 was launched by Nasa on March 2 1972. With Pioneer 11,
it revolutionised astronomy with detailed images of Jupiter and
Saturn.
In June 1983, Pioneer 10 passed Pluto, the most distant planet
in our solar system.
Both probes are now travelling at 27,000mph towards stars that
they will encounter several million years from now. Scientists are
continuing to monitor signals from Pioneer 10, which is more than
seven billion miles from Earth.
Research to be published shortly in The Physical Review will show
the speed of the two probes is being changed by about 6mph per century
- a barely-perceptible effect about 10 billion times weaker than
gravity.
Scientists initially suspected gas escaping from tiny rocket motors
aboard the probes, or heat leaking from their nuclear power plants,
might be responsible. Both have now been ruled out.
The team says no current theories explain why the force stays constant.
All the most plausible forces, from gravity to the effect of solar
radiation, decrease rapidly with distance.
|
,mmmm,,Sign
The Petition 
