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Mysterious Force Affects Pioneer 10 & 11 Probes
JabbaTheFart writes "The Guardian is writing that something strange is tugging at America's oldest spacecraft. As the Pioneer 10 and 11 probes head towards distant stars, scientists have discovered that the craft - launched more than 30 years ago - appear to be in the grip of a mysterious force that is holding them back as they sweep out of the solar system.
Some researchers say unseen 'dark matter' may permeate the universe and that this is affecting the Pioneers' passage. Others say flaws in our understanding of the laws of gravity best explain the crafts' wayward behaviour."
The question is can we develop the technology to detect tractor beams all the way out there from here?
They could just be hitting up against that big crystal shell that all the stars are painted on.
Smeghead every day of the week.
When you think about it, we know so little about deep space. Perhaps the Matrix doesn't go out that far? Clipping problems?
They're so far away the Matrix is accumulating significant floating point error.
Obviously, this is merely the result of the space craft leaving the singularity of our solar system, thereby moving outside of Einsteinian laws of gravitation and physics. It can now enter hyperspace... or would be able to if the puppeteers would hurry up and arrange for a hyperdrive shunt to get dropped off.
Sorry, just finished "Ringworld".
Ah yes, the good old "If you don't know, blame it on Dark Matter" strikes again.
-Kenneth Sundby-
I can forgive the mods not knowing the difference between affect and effect, but can we please all donate a penny to buy the editors an English textbook?
It's just the cloaked death star. That explains the force.
I don't know about you guys, but if "something strange" were tugging at my "probe" using "mysterious forces," It would probably be bigger news than the science page of /. !
Only if by "rare" you mean "all the time."
The Bush Administration is altering the laws of gravity in order to distract us from the situation in Iraq. A bill in Congress right now will nullify the law of gravity as we know it, taking away the rights of individuals to remain firmly planted on the Earth.
what can I say... the damn things snagged my sweater during take-off, and I didn't want to say anything...
Uranus!
("Effect" as a verb means "to bring about or execute".)
The shareholder is always right.
...to the inevitable discovery of a monolith and a solar baby.
John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
It's a SPACE STATION!!!
For those that would die defending it, Freedom
has a sweet taste that the protected will never know.
After reading the article I had a flashback about old computer games, where "mysterious force" would tug you back when you reached the end of the area.
:)
How funny it would be if our world ended after Pluto and the stars would only be 'a painted backcloth'. I wonder what kinda effect it would have on our society. Scientist would propably spend years trying to explaing the phenomena, until one day a human could travel to the edge and verify the obvious.
Or maybe the aliens that run our world on their supercomputer have not yet coded the rest of the universe. Let's wait for few more years and see if 'the mysterious force' has been removed
.... you can go about your business.
Killfile(TGK)
No trees were killed in the creation of this post. However, many electrons were inconvenienced.
It's not. It's unpossible.
nos laetus epulor qui would domito nos
Do you often find yourself bumping up against this limit? (Personally, even with mechanical help, I find about 100 kph, 27.8 m/s, to be the upper limit of my everyday velocity.)
Boys from the City. Not yet caught by the Whirlwind of Progress. Feed soda pop to the thirsty pigs.
Nouvelles de jeux et technologies en français. TC
Or 1.79999x10^12 furlongs per fortnight for those who prefer still other units.
Boys from the City. Not yet caught by the Whirlwind of Progress. Feed soda pop to the thirsty pigs.
You'd hate to be millions of miles out, with the minimum amount of fuel, and suddenly realize you're going in the wrong direction
You've never driven in West Virgina, have you?
The article talked about ideas for potential successor craft. All I have to say is I hope that they are a LOT faster!
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Let's see...in the past few weeks we've...
Sounds to me like it's time to sell your Reynolds Wrap (aluminum foil) stock soon, 'cause our alien overlords are f---ing around with us now that we've found their planet. Pretty soon, you won't need tinfoil hats to protect you from their mind control beams. You see, they won't waste time on tinfoil hat types -- because they make the best treats for their pet Glargian devourers.
Those who sell their stock, while soon to be enslaved to the Zarlanian Horde, will at least know they had money to live it up before the invasion began in earnest.
IronChefMorimotoAn article at physicsweb.org says:
When the craft were at distances of between 20 and 70 astronomical units, researchers found that the Doppler frequency of microwave signals that were bounced off the craft drifted at a small, constant rate
Austria is that island where the toilets flush backwards, no?
Reviews with a twist! http://www.sardonicbastard.com
:P
Abbot: Your holiness, our physics research team has discovered the reason for the heretofore unknown force on the Pioneer probes.
Pope: I KNEW we'd get to the bottom of that!
"A witty saying proves nothing." ~Voltaire
"d'Oh!" ~Homer
I think it is all the bad music and talk shows being broadcast for the past 10-15 years. That would hold anyone back.
Q: Why are pioneer 10 & 11 moving off course?
A: Because dark matter sucks.
A2: Because intersteller space sucks.
A3: Because SCO sucks less, the farther away you get from it.
I'm going to be here all week people, and the 10:00am show is completely different once I get my coffee.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
The big question is : How long until P'eer returns to Earth having amassed all of the knowledge of the Universe?
So, we have to raise the Yamato, outfit her with a Wave Motion Gun, and go out there and whup that ass!
I didn't think the house band in Hell would play this badly.
Yep, Space Barnacles.
the major advances in civilization are processes which all but wreck the societies in which they occur - A.N. White
"Space, it seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you."
If not send some probes out too further investigate the effect.
That sounds like fun. To investigate this in a reasonable time, NASA can try to make the hot rod of probes. Make something to get out there as fast as possible. Like strap three ion engines to a chemical booster, do a hard slingshot around the sun, then keep the pedal to the metal all the way out to the heliopause.
Naturally it will also have a few Type R stickers. Each one adds 1 m/s^2 y'know.
P'eer is already back. He keeps resetting my connection on IRC.
I'd love to spend a penny on the /. "editors"
Personally, even with mechanical help, I find about 100 kph, 27.8 m/s, to be the upper limit of my everyday velocity.
Here in Germany, we have the Autobahn.
Er, no, actually. What's your point?
My point was to use a stereotype to poke fun at a random stranger, thereby bolstering my own sense of self-worth by deflecting attention away from my own, numerous insecurities and enormous sense of inadequacy. This is quite common on slashdot; people usually get modded up for it. Hope you didn't take it personally...
Dark Matter is a theoretical concept we as to yet have not seen or detected.
Well, yeah, isn't that why they call it "dark matter"?
I am Sartre of the Borg. Existence is futile.
"Q: Why are pioneer 10 & 11 moving off course?"
They're being hit with earth's "don't leave us here" force.
They left the water running back at NASA.
The probes are all male, and will not ask for directions.
Free beer at Alpha Centauri.
Just a misunderstanding caused by them leaving their turn signals on for the last million miles.
Another metric units mistake.
Austria is that island where the toilets flush backwards, no?
Austria is an island, in the sense that it's surrounded by Europe.
I'm not sure about Austrian toilets, but I'm afraid they may resemble German toilets.
-kgj
-kgj
The probes are temporary swapped out, while the Universe Emulator is loading necessary modules for areas outside of this Solar system. :)
Hyperom.com