IMPROVEMENT OF ASTRONOMICAL CONSTANTS AND EPHEMERIDES FROM PIONEER RADIO-TRACKING DATA

Some preliminary, weighted, least-squares fits to two-way coherent S-band Doppler data from Pioneers VI and VII are tabulated in this paper. Also, there is a discussion of what kind of scientific information can be expected from Pioneer tracking data, and a brief reference is made to the methods used in extracting this information. Because of the preliminary nature of the fits to the data, the solutions are presented with a minimum of discussion. The principal results are that values are recommended for the geocentric gravitational constant (GE), the Earth-moon mass ratio μ-1, and the gravitational constant (GM) for the moon. These are GE = 398601.5 ± 0.4 km3/sec2; GM = 4902.75 ± 0.12 km3/sec2; μ-1 = 81.3016 ± 0.0020. The uncertainties associated with the values are believed to represent realistic standard errors. © 1969 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., All rights reserved.