An underestimated onboard generated recoil force contributing to the Pioneer anomaly

The Pioneer anomaly, an unexpected acceleration of the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft of ∼8.5 × 10⁻¹⁰ ms⁻² directed towards the inner Solar System, has been of great interest for the physics community during the past decade: considered explanations range from new physical concepts to conventional mechanism. It is shown that non-isotropic outgassing of the complete spacecraft structure is comparable in magnitude and direction to the effect and should be considered as a significant contribution to the anomalous acceleration. Although gas leaks from e.g. the propulsion system and propulsive mass loss mechanism have been discarded as possible explanations for the anomaly, the arguments used against such mechanisms do not apply to global outgassing from the spacecraft.     

Effects of Staged Injection on Supersonic Mixing and Combustion

The three-dimensional (3D) reacting flow in a staged supersonic combustor is examined numerically. In order to obtain the optimum stream-wise vortices, a swept ramp injector is chosen as the second-stage wall injection combined with the first-stage central strut injection. The performance of the two-staged injection is compared with that of a one-staged injection, while the strut is kept installed in both cases. The two-staged injections can make full use of the residual oxygen near the wall and release more heat. The second-stage injection further downstream avoids the strong shock waves in the isolator and results in a rising wall pressure and good burning effects after the wall injection. Therefore, it allows more fuel to be injected into the supersonic combustor without causing thermal choking. Parallel injection from the second-stage swept ramp shows low total pressure loss and the best burning efficiency, compared with the other injection angles.