Applying Newtonian dynamics in five dimensions rather than four, to a universe that is closed, isotropic and expanding,suggests that under certain circumstances an additional and previously unidentified acceleration, a_A, can arise affecting the four dimensional motion of spacecraft. The two cases of this acceleration being either real or virtual are considered. In the real case, simple estimates of a_A are shown to be in partial agreement with reported acceleration anomalies from several Earth flybys and from the Pioneer spacecraft. However, these estimates do not fully reconcile with radio Doppler tracking data. The virtual case, by contrast, appears to overcome these and other difficulties with the real case, and is discussed in an addendum. Furthermore, the virtual case has an altitude dependence which makes detection of any anomaly unlikely above ~2000 km. Equations governing this additional acceleration have been derived from first principles, without the introduction of free parameters or new constants and without amendment to the law of gravity.
Download