The Pioneer Anomaly: NASA’s Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft, launched in the 1970s, showed a tiny, unexplained deceleration as they exited the solar system. The constant sunward acceleration puzzled scientists for decades. Initial theories included new physics or dark matter. After exhaustive analysis, thermal recoil force—heat radiating unevenly from the spacecraft’s power source—was determined to account for most, if not all, of the effect. While largely resolved, it demonstrated the precision of space navigation and how minute forces can challenge our models, reminding scientists to scrutinize instrumentation before invoking new physics.
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