"For the velocity of the impact, I thought there was surprisingly little damage," said Roy Haggard of Vertigo Inc., Lake Elsinore, Calif., who took part in the initial reconnaissance of the capsule. "I observed the capsule penetrated the soil about 50 percent of its diameter. The shell had been breached about three inches and I could see the science canister inside and that also appeared to have a small breach," he said.
The science canister from the Genesis mission was moved into the cleanroom at the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground in Utah early Wednesday evening. First, a team of specialists plucked pieces of dirt and mud that had lodged in the canister after the mission's sample return capsule landed at high speed in the Utah desert. The Genesis team will begin examining the contents of the canister on Thursday morning.
The Genesis mission was launched in August 2001 on a journey to capture samples from the storehouse of 99 percent of all the material in our solar system -- the sun. The samples of solar wind particles, collected on ultra-pure wafers of gold, sapphire, silicon and diamond were designed to be returned for analysis by Earth-bound scientists.
Related stories:
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.
Genesis Mission Update
Genesis team scientists and engineers continue their work on the mission's sample return canister in a specially constructed
clean room at the U.S. Army Proving Ground in Dugway, Utah.
As more of the capsule's contents are revealed, the team's level of enthusiasm for the amount of science obtainable continues to rise.
Genesis Scientists Don't Lose Hope
Scientists who conducted the preliminary assessment of the Genesis canister are encouraged by what they see. They believe it may be possible to achieve the most important portions of their science objectives.
Piece of the Sun returns to Earth
In a dramatic ending that marks a beginning in scientific research, NASA's Genesis spacecraft is set to swing by Earth and jettison a sample return capsule filled with particles of the Sun that may ultimately tell us more about the genesis of our solar system. "The Genesis mission -- to capture a piece of the Sun and return it to Earth -- is truly in the NASA spirit: a bold, inspiring mission that makes a fundamental contribution to scientific knowledge," said Steven Brody, NASA's program executive for the Genesis mission, NASA Headquarters, Washington.
Sun Is Closer Than We Thought
This September, NASA is set to bring back a tiny sampling of the raw material of the Sun, a sample weighing no more than a few grains of salt.
In a dramatic ending that marks a beginning in scientific research, NASA's Genesis spacecraft is set to swing by Earth and jettison a sample return capsule filled with particles of the
Sun that may ultimately tell us more about the genesis of our solar system.
"The Genesis mission -- to capture a piece of the Sun and return it to Earth -- is truly in the
NASA spirit: a bold, inspiring mission that makes a fundamental contribution to scientific knowledge," said Steven Brody, NASA's program executive for the Genesis mission, NASA Headquarters, Washington.
Comet dust from NASA mission under analysis
Scientists at the University of Chicago are among the first ever to analyze cometary dust delivered to Earth via spacecraft.
NASA Sends First Genesis Early-Science Sample to Researchers
NASA scientists have sent to academic researchers an unprecedented piece of the sun gathered by the Genesis spacecraft, enabling the start of studies to achieve the mission's initial science objectives.
Scientists at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston recently shipped a piece of the Genesis polished aluminum collector to researchers at Washington University in St. Louis. The shipment marked the first distribution of a Genesis scientific sample from JSC since the science canister arrived on Oct. 4, 2004. Preliminary examination of the sample by researchers has confirmed it contains solar ions, traces of the solar wind.
What Genesis Solar Particles Can Tell Us
The recent crash of
NASA's Genesis space probe may have looked like bad news for scientists, but its cargo of particles captured from the sun should still yield
useful information, according to Qing-Zhu Yin, a planetary scientist at UC Davis.
