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.
“We are bouncing back from a hard landing, and spirits are
picking up again,” said Orlando Figueroa, Deputy Associate
Administrator for Programs for the Science Mission
Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“This may result in snatching victory from the jaws of
defeat,” added Dr. Roger Wiens of the Los Alamos National
Laboratory, a member of the Genesis science team. “We are
very encouraged.”
Based on initial inspection, it is possible a repository of
solar wind materials may have survived that will keep the
science community busy for some time.
“We are pleased and encouraged by the preliminary
inspection,” said NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe. “The
outstanding design and sturdy construction of Genesis may
yield the important scientific results we hoped for from the
mission,” he said.
“I want to emphasize the excellent work by the navigation
team to bring the capsule back exactly on target was key in
our ability to recover the science,” said Andrew Dantzler,
Director of the Solar System Division at NASA Headquarters,
Washington. “In addition, the robustness of the design of the
spacecraft was the reason it could take such a hard landing
and still give us a chance to recover the samples,” he said.
The mission’s main priority is to measure oxygen isotopes to
determine which of several theories is correct regarding the
role of oxygen in the formation of the solar system.
Scientists hope to determine this with isotopes collected in
the four target segments of the solar wind concentrator
carried by the Genesis spacecraft.
“From our initial look, we can see that two of the four
concentrator segments are in place, and all four may be
intact,” Wiens said.
The mission’s second priority is to analyze nitrogen isotopes
that will help understand how the atmospheres of the planets
in our solar system evolved. “These isotopes will be analyzed
using gold foil, which we have also found intact,” Wiens
said.
Other samples of solar winds are contained on hexagonal
wafers. It appears these are all or nearly all broken, but
sizable pieces will be recovered, and some are still mounted
in their holders. “We won’t really know how many can be
recovered for some time, but we are far more hopeful
important science can be conducted than we were on
Wednesday,” Wiens said.
Another type of collector material, foils contained on the
canister’s lid, were designed to collect other isotopes in
the solar wind. It appears approximately three-fourths of
these are recoverable, according to Dr. Dave Lindstrom,
Mission Program Scientist at NASA Headquarters. However,
these foils have been exposed to elements of the Utah desert.
The Genesis sample return capsule landed well within the
projected ellipse path in the Utah Test & Training Range on
Sept. 8, but its parachutes did not open. It impacted the
ground at nearly 200 mph. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a
division of the California Institute of Technology in
Pasadena, Calif., manages the Genesis mission for the
agency’s Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed Martin Space
Systems, Denver, developed and operated the spacecraft.
News and information about Genesis is available on the
Internet, at: www.nasa.gov/genesis
Detailed background information about the mission is
available on the Web at: http://genesismission.jpl.nasa.gov
