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17 Jan 2004, 01:00 UTC:
Approximately 2 1/2 -years after its launching (08 Aug 2001), Genesis is still collecting data on the solar wind. Genesis is expected to return to Earth with samples of the solar wind collected at Lagrange Point 1, in September of 2004. Genesis is the first mission designed to collect particles of Solar Wind and transport the samples to Earth.
While Genesis is collecting particles of solar wind, a second space craft is collecting particles of comet debris and interstellar dust. The collection of interstellar dust and comet particles is part of the mission assigned to the "Stardust" Project. Stardust will transport its collected cargo to Earth at the end of 7-year mission.
The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Genesis mission team's data Web site is now open to the science community. The site presently contains solar-wind browse plots based on on-board calculated ion moments and electron spin angle plots from August 24, 2001 to present.
3 Dec 2001
MEDIA RELATIONS
OFFICE JET PROPULSION
LABORATORY CALIFORNIA
INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL
AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIF.
91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011 http://www.jpl.nasa.gov Contact: JPL/Martha J. Heil 818/354-0850 NASA Headquarters/Donald Savage 202/358-1547
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 3, 2001
GENESIS SPACECRAFT BEGINS MISSION TO COLLECT SAMPLES OF THE SUN
"NASA's Genesis mission is officially open for business today, as it extends its
special collector arrays to catch atoms from the solar wind. The atoms it collects,
believed to have been part of the solar nebula "cloud" from which our solar system
developed, will help scientists gain a better understanding of the conditions in the distant
past before Earth and other planets formed."
"Genesis, managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., is the
agency's first sample return mission since the last Apollo mission in 1972, and the first
ever to return material collected beyond the Moon."
"Genesis orbits a point in space, about 1 million miles from Earth in the direction
of the Sun, where the gravities of Earth and the Sun balance. The spacecraft first opened
its outer shell, then last Friday opened its inner science canister to reveal collector arrays.
Today, these arrays fanned out like petals to catch heavier atoms of the solar wind.
"We expect to start getting particle hits right away," said Dr. Donald Burnett,
Genesis principal investigator, of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
"Now we've gotten to the real focus of the mission: the start of science, leading to the
return in 2004 and the analysis phase of the mission."
"This treasured smidgen of the Sun will be preserved in a special laboratory at
NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, for study by scientists over the next
century. It will help scientists understand the composition of the original solar nebula that
formed the planets, asteroids, comets and the Sun we know today."
"Sample collection will conclude in April 2004, when the spacecraft begins its
return to Earth. In September of that year, the samples will arrive on Earth in a dramatic
helicopter capture. As the sample-return capsule parachutes toward the ground at the
Utah Testing and Training Range of the U.S. Air Force, specially trained helicopter pilots
will catch the capsule in midair to prevent the delicate samples from being disturbed by
the impact of a landing."
"Scientists say that the surface of the Sun, from which the solar wind originates,
has preserved the composition of the era when the solar system formed. Study of Genesis'
samples will yield the average composition of the solar system to greater accuracy. It will
also give clues about the process that led to the incredible diversity of environments in
today's solar system."
"Genesis carries four instruments: bicycle-tire-sized solar-wind collector arrays,
made of materials such as diamond, gold, silicon and sapphire, and designed to entrap
solar wind particles; an ion monitor, to record the speed, density, temperature and
approximate composition of the solar wind ions; an electron monitor, to make similar
measurements of electrons in the solar wind; and an ion concentrator, to separate and
focus elements like oxygen and nitrogen in the solar wind into a special collector tile.
The ion and electron monitors were turned on several months ago in preparation
for their role during solar-wind collection. The monitors communicate with Earth
frequently and will give periodic solar-wind weather reports. "It has been exciting
watching the space weather so far," said Dr. Roger Wiens of Los Alamos National
Laboratory, N.M., head of the team that operates the instruments. "We've had a rather
stormy autumn in space, which has been great for checking out our instruments."
JPL, a division of Caltech, manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space
Science, Washington, D.C. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo., designed and
built the spacecraft and operates it jointly with JPL. Major portions of the payload design
and fabrication were carried out at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and at Johnson
Space Center."
16 Nov 2001
At 11:03 a.m. Pacific time, NASA's Genesis spacecraft entered perfectly into orbit around the balanced-gravity point Lagrange 1, where it will collect solar wind particles.
Early this morning, engineers sent a final command to the spacecraft to begin operating its hydrazine thrusters for about 268 seconds. This put the spacecraft into its final orbit to begin the particle-gathering phase of the mission. The orbit is at a point where the gravity of Earth and the Sun are balanced. This is called the Lagrange 1 point, or L1.
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8 Aug 2001 : "After a flawless launch today at 12:13:40 p.m. EDT from pad 17A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, the Genesis spacecraft is on its mission to "catch a piece of the sun."
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"At 64 minutes, 12 seconds into the mission, the Genesis spacecraft separated from the Delta's third stage. Immediately after separation, Genesis' solar arrays unfolded and pointed toward the sun."
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"The spacecraft's signal was successfully acquired by the NASA Deep Space Network complex at Goldstone, CA, 85 minutes after launch." NASA/JPL
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MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
November 16, 2001
"At 11:03 a.m. Pacific time, NASA's Genesis spacecraft
entered perfectly into orbit around the balanced-gravity point
Lagrange 1, where it will collect solar wind particles.
Early this morning, engineers sent a final command to the
spacecraft to begin operating its hydrazine thrusters for
about 268 seconds. This put the spacecraft into its final
orbit to begin the particle-gathering phase of the mission.
The orbit is at a point where the gravity of Earth and the Sun
are balanced. This is called the Lagrange 1 point, or L1.
"The mission operations team did a great job, the orbit
insertion went off exactly as planned, and we're in our 30-
month science collection orbit," said project manager Chet
Sasaki, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.,
which manages the mission. "The spacecraft is in perfect
health and we're ready to move into the next phase of its
mission."
"At the end of this month, Genesis will open its collector
arrays and begin to monitor and collect the solar wind ions
flowing from the outer layer of the Sun. The samples of solar
wind returned by Genesis will help scientists understand how
the solar system evolved."
"In September 2004, Genesis will return to Earth and
release capsule containing the samples. That capsule will be
caught in mid-air by a helicopter. The precious samples will
be airlifted to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, where
they will be distributed for scientific analysis and safely
curated in order to be available for the next century of
planetary science studies."
"JPL manages the Genesis mission for NASA's Office of
Space Science, Washington, D.C. Lockheed Martin Astronautics,
Denver, Colo., and Los Alamos National Laboratory, N. M.,
operate the mission jointly with JPL. JPL is a division of
the California Institute of Technology, the home institute of
the principal investigator, Dr. Donald Burnett."
More information on the Genesis mission can be found at
http://genesismission.jpl.nasa.gov .
For complete information on this interesting mission: Go to Start of Genesis Article
| -Mission Description |
The Genesis spacecraft will be placed into orbit around L1, a point between Earth and the sun where the gravity of both bodies is balanced. Once in orbit, Genesis will unfurl its collector arrays and begin collecting particles of the solar wind that will imbed themselves in specially designed high purity wafers. After two years, the sample collectors will be re-stowed and returned to Earth for an exciting mid-air recovery of the sample return capsule. The samples will be stored and cataloged under ultra-pure clean room conditions and made available to the world scientific community for study." NASA
NASA| Science Objectives |
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To obtain precise measures of solar isotopic abundances.
(Genesis will measure isotopic compositions of oxygen, nitrogen, and noble gases. These data will enable scientists to better understand the isotopic variations in meteorites, comets, lunar samples, and planetary atmospheres.) -
To obtain greatly improved measures of solar elemental abundances.
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To provide a reservoir of solar matter for 21st century science research, eliminating the need for future solar wind sample return missions. JPL/ NASAClick on Image to enlarge. NASA
"This graph shows the events that
will occur during the recovery of the Genesis sample return capsule in
late summer of 2003. The sample return capsule will separate from the
remainder of the spacecraft about 4 hours before it encounters the Earth's
atmosphere. Friction will initially slow the capsule, followed by
deployment of two parachutes, a small drogue chute, then a larger main
parachute. Two helicopters will be waiting to grab the capsule's parachute
in mid-air as it glides toward Earth, so that it will not come in contact
with Earth materials and contaminate its cargo of solar wind samples."
JPL/ NASA
4 Sept 2001 : "The Genesis spacecraft is performing well. This week, the doors of the Genesis Ion Monitor (GIM) and Genesis Electron Monitor (GEM) were successfully opened. After a period of outgassing, the GEM and GIM were turned on. Their performance indicates that the door is open. Instrument checkout was also successfully completed. Daily precession maneuvers have been successfully implemented to keep the spacecraft orientation correct with respect to the sun.""The science algorithm WIND, which will ultimately be used to automatically determine the solar wind regime and deploy or stow the solar wind collector arrays accordingly, was enabled, with stellar results. The algorithm correctly determined a solar wind speed of 380 km/sec, a proton density of <1/cc, and temperature of 90,000 Kelvin (TK Fahrenheit.) The spacecraft's measurements were confirmed by comparison with data from the ACE spacecraft, currently in the vicinity of Genesis' destination, L1." NASA/JPL
