The flyby anomaly: A case for strong gravitomagnetism ?

TL;DR

This paper explores whether a strong gravitomagnetic field could explain the unexplained velocity anomalies observed during spacecraft flybys of Earth, proposing a potential new gravitational effect but also highlighting conflicts with existing data.

Contribution

It introduces the hypothesis that a strong transversal gravitomagnetic component might account for the flyby anomaly, analyzing its compatibility with current gravitational experiments.

Findings

A strong gravitomagnetic field could theoretically produce the observed anomalies.

Such a field's effects are inconsistent with existing satellite and gravity probe data.

The hypothesis faces challenges from detailed orbital evolution constraints.

Abstract

In the last two decades an anomalous variation in the asymptotic velocity of spacecraft performing a flyby manoeuvre around Earth has been discovered through careful Doppler tracking and orbital analysis. No viable hypothesis for a conventional explanation of this effect has been proposed and its origin remains unexplained. In this paper we discuss a strong transversal component of the gravitomagnetic field as a possible source of the flyby anomaly. We show that the perturbations induced by such a field could fit the anomalies both in sign and order of magnitude. But, although the secular contributions to the Gravity Probe B experimental results and the Lense-Thirring effect in geodynamics satellites can be made null, the detailed orbital evolution is easily in conflict with such an enhanced gravitomagnetic effect.