The non-gravitational accelerations of the Cassini spacecraft and the nature of the Pioneer anomaly

The present research is aimed at demonstrating that a novel approach, based on the estimates of Cassini non-gravitational accelerations during the entire mission, allows disentangling unambiguously the RTG’s systematic bias from any anomalous acceleration with the magnitude of the Pioneer anomaly. The proposed method exploits the propellent consumption and the consequent mass decrease exhibited by Cassini spacecraft, especially during the Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) maneuver. In the end, should Cassini unambiguously rule out any additional acceleration, it would be the definite proof that the Pioneer anomaly is in reality an on-board generated mechanism. On the other hand, if the acceleration were detected from Cassini orbit reconstruction, it would imply a serious revisitation of known physics laws.