(Abdul Ahad) wrote:

I was casually checking the weekly mission data archived he-
http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/...orts/index.htm

when I noted the velocities of both probes (relative to the Sun) were
edging lower by small amounts over the past 8 years:

Jan 1996 Voyager 1: 17.4 km/s, Voyager 2: 16.1 km/s
Jan 1999 Voayger 1: 17.3 km/s, Voayger 2: 15.9 km/s
Jan 2002 Voyager 1: 17.2 km/s, Voyager 2: 15.7 km/s
Jan 2004 Voayger 1: 17.2 km/s, Voyager 2: 15.7 km/s

Any ideas as to what's causing this slow down anyone?

Gravity. Well, as accurately as we can measure the deceleration is all
due to gravity, but data from the Pioneer craft suggest there may be
something else (too small to measure for the Voyager craft due to the
way they are stabilised).

Search for "pioneer anomaly". It's very interesting, mainly because
nobody seems to know what's causing it.


Tim
--
My last .sig was rubbish too.