The Doppler tracking data from two deep-space spacecraft, Pioneer 10 and 11, show an anomalous blueshift, which has been dubbed the “Pioneer anomaly”. The effect is most commonly interpreted as a real deceleration of the spacecraft – an interpretation that faces serious challenges from planetary ephemerides. The Pioneer anomaly could as well indicate an unknown effect on the radio signal itself. Several authors have made suggestions how such a blueshift could be related to cosmology. We consider this interpretation of the Pioneer anomaly and study the impact of an anomalous blueshift on the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), a planned joint ESA–NASA mission aiming at the detection of gravitational waves. The relative frequency shift (proportional to the light travel time) for the LISA arm length is estimated to 10−16, which is much bigger than the expected amplitude of gravitational waves. The anomalous blueshift enters the LISA signal in two ways, as a small term folded with the gravitational-wave signal, and as larger term at low frequencies. A detailed analysis shows that both contributions remain undetectable and do not impair the gravitational-wave detection. This suggests that the Pioneer anomaly will have to be tested in the outer solar system regardless if the effect is caused by an anomalous blueshift or by a real force.
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Defrère, D., Rathke, A. (2008). Pioneer Anomaly: What Can We Learn from LISA?. In: Dittus, H., Lammerzahl, C., Turyshev, S.G. (eds) Lasers, Clocks and Drag-Free Control. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 349. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-34377-6_27
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