Genesis News Options

[jamescanvin]

Good news!

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/apr/H...collectors.html

RELEASE: 05-102

NASA Announces Key Genesis Science Collectors In Excellent Shape

Scientists have closely examined four Genesis spacecraft collectors, vital to the mission's top science objective, and found them in excellent shape, despite the spacecraft's hard landing last year.

Scientists at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston removed the four solar-wind collectors from an instrument called the concentrator. The concentrator targets collected solar-oxygen ions during the Genesis mission. Scientists will analyze them to measure solar-oxygen isotopic composition, the highest-priority measurement objective for Genesis. The data may hold clues to increase understanding about how the solar system formed.

"Taking these concentrator targets out of their flight holders and getting our first visual inspection of them is very important," said Karen McNamara, Genesis curation recovery lead. "This step is critical to moving forward with the primary science Genesis was intended to achieve. All indications are the targets are in excellent condition. Now we will have the opportunity to show that quantitatively. The preliminary assessment of these materials is the first step to their allocation and measurement of the composition of the solar wind," she said.

The targets were removed at JSC by a team from Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M., where the concentrator was designed and built.

"Finding these concentrator targets in excellent condition after the Genesis crash was a real miracle," said Roger Wiens, principal investigator for the Los Alamos instruments. "It raised our spirits a huge amount the day after the impact. With the removal of the concentrator targets this week, we are getting closer to learning what these targets will tell us about the sun and our solar system," he added.

The Los Alamos team was assisted by JSC curators and Quality Assurance personnel from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Curators at JSC will examine the targets and prepare a detailed report about their condition, so scientists can properly analyze the collectors. The targets will be imaged in detail and then stored under nitrogen in the Genesis clean room.

Genesis was launched Aug. 8, 2001, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on a mission to collect solar wind particles. Sample collection began Dec. 5, 2001, and was completed April 1, 2004. After an extensive recovery effort, following its Sept. 8, 2004, impact at a Utah landing site, the first scientific samples from Genesis arrived at JSC Oct. 4, 2004.

Still imagery of scientists removing the concentrator targets is available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/genesis/...eam_images.html

Video to accompany this release will air on the NASA TV Video File at 3 p.m. EDT today. NASA TV is available on the Web and via satellite in the continental U.S. on AMC-6, Transponder 9C, C-Band, at 72 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. It's available in Alaska and Hawaii on AMC-7, Transponder 18C, C-Band, at 137 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 4060.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz.

For more information about the Genesis mission on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/genesis

[JTN]

There seems to be confusion, between the Newscience article, and Bruce's references, about when the 'brown staining' occurred - during the mission or after the landing.

It definitely occurred while Genesis was still in space. You'll recall that, right at the start of the mission, the sample-return capsule's battery showed some signs of overheating. [...]

No chance that the "staining" occurred late enough, and thick enough, to seal in some of the samples safe from Utahn contamination?

[The Messenger]

It definitely occurred while Genesis was still in space. You'll recall that, right at the start of the mission, the sample-return capsule's battery showed some signs of overheating. [...]
No chance that the "staining" occurred late enough, and thick enough, to seal in some of the samples safe from Utahn contamination?

In this respect, the west desert was an ugly choice - A dried up lake bed, with everything imaginable in the silt.

A couple of decades ago, the Great Salt Lake rose so high it was starting to spill onto the airport. They put a bunch of super-turbo pumps in, and pumped the water out on to the west desert to evaporate. The lake was so diluted, the salt content was low enough that bacteria became active in the lake, dexomposing centuries of pickled organics, and the lake stench was overwhelming.

I don't think that they pumped into the area where Gemini splatted, but that desert is not a place that you want to go bushwacking.

[Bob Shaw]

Interesting information regarding the long-term future of the spacecraft, from the Genesis website: http://genesismission.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/solo.html

"Genesis Spacecraft Bus Flies Solo
While NASA scientists continue to examine the Genesis sample return capsule at NASA's Johnson Space Center, the spacecraft itself continues on its flight. After releasing the sample return capsule on Sept. 8, 2004, the spacecraft bus now heads back toward the vicinity of the Earth-Sun Lagrange Point (L1), a point just under 1 million miles away from Earth toward the Sun, where gravitational and centrifugal forces acting on the spacecraft are balanced. All of the spacecraft systems are operational including the solar wind monitors (although currently turned off). On its current trajectory, the spacecraft will leave L1 in February 2005, entering an orbit around the Sun. Since this orbit is just inside the Earth's orbit, Genesis will gradually pull ahead of the Earth, steadily increasing its distance from Earth in the coming years. NASA is currently considering an extended mission, which would keep the spacecraft in the Earth-Moon system for the next several years. The Genesis spacecraft completed a trajectory correction maneuver (TCM) on Nov. 6, as the spacecraft made its closest approach by our planet since the release of the sample return capsule. This TCM ensured that the bus could escape from the Earth and Moon system if an extended mission is not approved."

Bob Shaw

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