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Pioneer Anomaly Solved
First time accepted submitter gstrickler writes "After years of work recovering and analyzing old mission data and vehicle schematics, a just published analysis(Pdf) provides strong evidence for anisotropic thermal radiation being the source of the slowing of the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft. The theory isn't new, but the recovered data and new analysis provide solid evidence that at least 80% of the deceleration is accounted for by anisotropic thermal radiation. Members of The Planetary Society were instrumental in recovering the data and helping fund the analysis. The lesson is, in space, it matters what direction your heat radiating surfaces point."
Could one compromise and put the radiators perpendicular to the direction of the sun (and travel?) eg, not on the front or back, but on the sides? Provided you did so equally, any force resulting in their radiation should cancel itself out.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
[...]and they might have other reasons for orienting the craft a certain way -- maybe to maximize cooling.
One end of the spacecraft is a big-ass radio dish, and the orientation is determined by pointing that dish at the Earth so that we can communicate with it.
The "speed" of the Pioneer craft is usually referenced to the Sun and it's orbit