Genesis Special Update 2
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Link to an article on the Genesis Mission
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JPL /
NASA
January 2006
Genesis was a mission to collect solar matter away from the influences of Earth. The Genesis Space Craft was fitted with special collectors made of very pure silicon, aluminum, gold/platinum, diamond, and germanium.
DC Agle (818) 393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Gretchen Cook-Anderson (202)
358-0836
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Bill Jeffs (281) 483-5035
Johnson Space Center, Houston
News Release: 2004-245 September 30, 2004
Genesis Mission Status Report
The Genesis team is preparing to
ship its samples of the Sun from the mission's temporary
cleanroom
at the U.S. Army Proving Ground, Dugway, Utah, to NASA's Johnson Space Center,
Houston. Image NASA
"We have essentially completed the recovery and documentation process and now are in the business of preparing everything for transport," said Eileen Stansbery, Johnson Space Center assistant director of astromaterials research and exploration science. "We still have a way to go before we can quantify our recovery of the solar sample. I can tell you we have come a long way from September 8, and things are looking very, very good."
A major milestone in the process was the recovery of the Genesis mission's four separate segments of the concentrator target. Designed to measure the isotopic ratios of oxygen and nitrogen, the segments contain within their structure the samples that are the mission's most important science goal.
"Retrieving the concentrator target was our number one priority," Stansbery said. "When I first saw three of the four target segments were intact, and the fourth was mostly intact, my heart leapt. Inside those segments are three years of the solar samples, which to the scientific community, means eons worth of history of the birth of our solar system. I saw those, and I knew we had just overcome a major hurdle."
Other milestones in the recovery process included the discovery that the gold foil collector was undamaged and in excellent condition. The gold foil, which is expected to contain almost a million billion atoms of solar wind, was considered the number two priority for science recovery. The polished aluminum collector was misshapen by the impact. However, it is intact and expected to also yield secrets about the Sun. Another occurred when the cleanroom team disassembled the collector arrays. They revealed, among large amounts of useable array material, some almost whole sapphire and coated sapphire collectors and a metallic glass collector.
Packing solar samples for transport is a little different than packing a house-worth of belongings for a cross-country move. After the meticulous process of inspection and documentation, each segment of collector gets its own ID number, photograph and carrying case. The samples and shipping containers fill the space of about two full size refrigerators. The Genesis material will probably move to the Johnson Space Center within the next week.
"If you had told me September 8 that we would be ready to move Genesis samples to Houston within the month I would have replied, 'no way,'" said Genesis Project Manager Don Sweetnam of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "But here we are, with an opportunity to fulfill our major science objectives. It is a great day for Genesis, and I expect many more to come."
For more information about the
Genesis mission on the Internet, visit
-end-
END of Quoted material
09 Sep 2004, 05:03 UTC: On 08 Sep 2004, the Genesis capsule, containing the World's only sample of solar wind particles, entered Earth's atmosphere on schedule. Events then turned sour. The parachute on the Genesis capsule failed to open and the capsule hit Earth's surface traveling 311 Km/hr (193 mph).
The capsule landed on the U.S. Army's proving ground near Utah's Granite Peak. No one was injured by the falling capsule and no property was damaged.
Rescue helicopters, following a contingency plan, found the capsule, documented the capsule's condition, verified the condition of the capsule's separation charge and transported the capsule to a clean room located near the crash site. The capsule showed little outside damage.
Late on 08 Sep, the capsule was moved to the inside area of the clean room where preliminary cleaning took place. Further inspection will follow during the 09 Sep UTC day.
Approximately
50% of the capsule containing the Genesis Mission's treasure of solar particles,
was buried when the capsule hit the ground.
Image and facts courtesy of JPL / NASA
Return to Genesis Special Update Page
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25 September 2004
According to a 23 September news release from NASA's, Jet
Propulsion Laboratory ( JPL ), the Genesis Mission has advanced
another step in securing , transporting, and in the eventual
analyzing of the World's only samples of Solar Wind Particles
. The News Release Follows Below.
DC Agle (818) 393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Donald Savage (202) 358-1547
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Bill Jeffs (281) 483-5035
Johnson Space Center, Houston
NEWS RELEASE: 2004-236 September 23, 2004
Genesis Mission Status Report
The Genesis team has shipped its first scientific sample from the mission's specially constructed cleanroom at the U.S. Army Proving Ground in Dugway, Utah. The sample, containing what are known as "lid foils," was attached to the interior lid of the Genesis sample return capsule.
"This is the first batch in what we are growing more confident will be many more scientifically valuable samples," said Genesis Project Manager Don Sweetnam of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "It appears that we have recovered about 75 to 80 percent of these lid foils. A great deal of credit has to go to the dedicated men and women of Genesis who continue to do very precise, detailed work out there in the Utah desert."
After the sample was shipped from Utah, it was received by Genesis co-investigator Nishizumi Kunihiko from the University of California, Berkeley, Space Sciences Laboratory.
In addition to the lid foils, there was optimistic news about the collector array. Team members from JPL arrived in Utah on Monday with a special fixture to aid in handling the science canister's stack of four collector arrays. The stack was successfully removed as one piece. With the stack on the fixture, the team has begun the process of disassembling the arrays. Several large pieces of individual collector materials, including one completely intact hexagon, were recovered from the top array.
The Genesis cleanroom activities are focused on getting the materials ready for shipping. A date has not yet been selected for transporting the Genesis science canister and recovered collector materials from Dugway to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The team continues its meticulous work and believes that a significant repository of solar wind materials has survived that will keep the science community busy working on their science objectives.
News and information about Genesis is available online at http://www.nasa.gov/genesis . For background information about Genesis, visit http://genesismission.jpl.nasa.gov/ . For information about NASA visit http://www.nasa.gov/ .
-end-
Link to an article on the Genesis Mission
Link to Genesis pictures.
Link to a page on the Web Site named Genesis Updates
Link to Glossary
Go to the Links page
Link to part two of the Genesis Mission: Solar Wind 2
Background Information
On 08 Sep 2004, the eyes of people in the north western United States pointed toward an area of the sky looking out over the Pacific Ocean. People were expecting to see a bright white fireball formed by a portion of the Genesis spacecraft, jettisoned from the rest of the spacecraft and over heating as it fell through much of the Earth's atmosphere.
The jettisoned capsular section of the Genesis spacecraft did indeed fall through the atmosphere. The capsule, containing the World's only sample of solar wind particles, made up the capsule's cargo.
An early sign of developing problems was a fireball that lasted for a longer period of time than was expected. The capsule was intended to slow down by the release a drogue parachute. The plan called for a helicopter to catch the capsule as it was parachuting down toward the Earth's surface. The parachute failed to open and instead of a dramatic catch in the air, the capsule plunged into the surface of a desert in Utah at approximately 200 miles per hour (320 km/hr).
Link to an article on the Genesis Mission
Link to Genesis pictures.
Link to a page on the Web Site
named Genesis Updates
Link to part two of the Genesis Mission: Solar Wind 2
Return to Genesis Special Update Page