-Caveat Lector-
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20020211-67166412.htm
WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
Mystery force pulls old space probe toward sun
By Robert Matthews
LONDON SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
LONDON — A space probe launched 30 years ago has come under the
influence of a force that has baffled scientists and could rewrite the laws
of physics.
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 weakening as the spacecraft travels deeper
into space, and scientists are considering the potential that the probe has
revealed a new force of nature.
Philip Laing, a member of the research team tracking the craft, said:
"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," said Mr. Laing, of the Aerospace Corp. of California.
Pioneer 10 was launched by NASA on March 2, 1972, and with Pioneer 11,
its twin, revolutionized 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 traveling at 27,000 mph toward stars that they will
encounter several million years from now. Scientists are continuing to
monitor signals from Pioneer 10, which is more than 7 billion miles from
Earth.
Research to be published shortly in a leading physics journal, however,
will show that the speed of the two probes is being changed by about 6 mph
per century — a barely perceptible effect about 10 billion times weaker than
gravity.
Scientists initially suspected that gas escaping from tiny rocket motors
aboard the probes or heat leaking from their nuclear power plants might be
responsible. Both now have 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.
The bizarre behavior also has eliminated theories that the two probes
are affected by the gravitational pull of unknown planets beyond the solar
system.
Assertions by some scientists that the force is the result of a quirk in
the Pioneer probes also have been discounted by the discovery that the effect
seems to be affecting Galileo and Ulysses, two other space probes still in
the solar system.
Data from these two probes suggest the force is of the same strength as
that found for the Pioneers.
Duncan Steel, a space scientist at Salford University in Manchester,
England, says even such a weak force could have huge effects on a cosmic
scale.
"It might alter the number of comets that come toward us over millions
of years, which would have consequences for life on Earth. It also raises the
question of whether we know enough about the law of gravity."
Until 1988, Pioneer 10 was the most remote object made by man — a
distinction now held by Voyager 1.
Should Pioneer 10 make contact with alien life, it carries a gold-plated
aluminium plaque on which the figures of a man and woman are shown to scale,
along with a map showing its origin that NASA calls "the cosmic equivalent of
a message in a bottle."
*COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107,
any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use
without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational
purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ]
Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists!
Write to same address to be off lists!
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
