Modeling the flyby anomalies with dark matter scattering

Abstract

We continue our exploration of whether the flyby anomalies can be explained by scattering of spacecraft nucleons from dark matter gravitationally bound to the earth. We formulate and analyze a simple model in which inelastic and elastic scatterers populate shells generated by the precession of circular orbits with normals tilted with respect to the earth's axis. Good fits to the data published by Anderson et al. are obtained.