High precision thermal modeling of complex systems with application to the flyby and Pioneer anomaly

TL;DR

This paper presents a high-precision thermal modeling approach for complex systems, applied to analyze the Pioneer and Rosetta flyby anomalies, concluding thermal recoil pressure is unlikely the cause of Rosetta's anomaly but may explain Pioneer 10's.

Contribution

It introduces an advanced thermal modeling method that accurately accounts for geometry, radiation, and external influences, applied to space mission anomalies.

Findings

Thermal recoil pressure does not explain the Rosetta flyby anomaly.

Thermal effects likely account for Pioneer 10's anomalous acceleration.

The modeling improves understanding of thermal influences on spacecraft trajectories.

Abstract

Thermal modeling of complex systems faces the problems of an effective digitalization of the detailed geometry and properties of the system, calculation of the thermal flows and temperature maps, treatment of the thermal radiation including possible multiple reflections, inclusion of additional external influences, extraction of the radiation pressure from calculated surface data, and computational effectiveness. In previous publications the solution to these problems have been outlined and a first application to the Pioneer spacecraft have been shown. Here we like to present the application of our thermal modeling to the Rosetta flyby anomaly as well as to the Pioneer anomaly. The analysis outlines that thermal recoil pressure is not the cause of the Rosetta flyby anomaly but likely resolves the anomalous acceleration observed for Pioneer 10.