Genesis
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The sun and the planets in our solar system are believed to have originated from the gravitational collapse of a cloud of gas, dust and ice. Scientists hope to learn more about the origin and nature of the planets by examining the solar wind, particles emanating from the surface of the sun.
NASA’s Genesis mission was launched in August 2001 to collect samples of the solar wind for return to Earth for laboratory analysis. After a three-year journey around the sun, the Genesis science canister landed in the Utah desert on September 8, 2004. Because of a parachute failure, the canister made a hard landing and cracked open upon impact. While scientists were concerned about the possible contamination of solar wind samples due to this breach of containment, no risk of biological contamination of the terrestrial environment was posed by the breach. The scientific consensus is that solar wind samples would not contain any biological contamination.
The canister was moved into a clean room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center where mission scientists began examaining its contents. 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. Further, more detailed scientific analyses of the samples returned by Genesis are planned.
This mission is classified Category V, unrestricted Earth return, for planetary protection purposes. The Genesis spacecraft’s sample collection hardware was cleaned and assembled in a Class 10 cleanroom, containing no more than one 10-micron-size particle per cubic foot of air. Solar wind samples collected and returned to Earth by Genesis have been stored and cataloged under ultra-pure cleanroom conditions, and are being made available to mission scientists for study.
For more information on Genesis, see these pages at the Solar System Exploration website, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory website, and the Science Mission Directorate website.
Responsible NASA Official: Dr. Catharine Conley Last Updated: May 5, 2013 |