The Genesis mission is a current NASA initiative to collect
particles ejected from the sun and return the tiny sample to Earth. Launched
August 8, 2001, the Genesis spacecraft is currently orbiting around LaGrange
Point 1 (L1), an area of steady gravitation between the Earth and the sun. It
will continue to collect solar particles until September 2004, when it will
return to Earth and deploy a recovery capsule containing the precious payload.
Genesis is the fourth mission of NASA's ambitious Discovery Program.
Whispers from the Early Solar System
Before the solar system became the cut and dry single-star
planetary system it is today, it was a giant rotating disk of stardust called the solar nebula. Eventually, gravity pulled the
innermost material into a giant star, while the outer bits spun together to
create the planets, comets, and asteroids. But such
variation exists among the planets that planetary scientists believe the
composition of the original solar nebula was not uniform. Initial results from spectral
analysis, meteorite inspection, and robotic missions support the
high variation of matter in the dawn of the solar system. However, researchers
have never been able to analyze actual particles from the sun to confirm this
theory.
An Eccentric Journey and Acrobatic Finish
NASA launched the spacecraft from Earth in August 2001. It spent 2.7 months
traveling to its destination of L1, where in November 2001 it successffully
performed a Lissajous Orbit Insertion (LOI), a risky figure-eight maneuver. Here, it began a 29.3 month
collection phase in a halo orbit around L1. In early April 2004, the Genesis
spacecraft will complete the collection phase of the mission and begin its
journey back to Earth. It will spend 5.3 months circling past the Earth towards
L2, where it will loop around on the final leg towards Earth. In September 2004, the spacecraft will eject its payload that will
reenter the Earth's atmosphere over the Utah Test and Training Range where a
helicopter will attempt to seize the capsule's parachute in mid-air, a
maneuver perfected by NASA for the secret Corona program in the 1960s.
Scientists will spend three years analyzing the tiny particles in hopes of
uncovering secrets of the early solar system.
Kiss and Tell
Genesis is tough enough to kiss the sun and live to tell the story.
Actually, the spacecraft will fly far enough away from the Earth's
magnetosphere to be able to come in contact with solar particles before the
magnetic influence jettisons the particles safely out of Earth's way. After
insertion of the spacecraft around L1, the pocket-watch-like
craft opens to reveal its innards of instrumentation. Genesis features three
circular collector arrays, two solar wind monitors, and a concentrator. The
"high-purity" surface of the collector arrays will collect tiny amounts of solar
wind ions in wafers of silicon, aluminum, gold/platinum,
diamond, and germanium. When the collection phase of the mission is
complete, the craft will close and seal these collector arrays in preparation
for reentry. The mirror concentrator will concentrate solar wind onto Chemical Vapor
Deposit (CVD), a super-clean plate made from diamond and silicon carbide.
Oxygen is the primary target of the concentrator. The solar wind monitors are
not designed to collect matter, but will measure the amount of solar wind and
make other navigational measurements.
Solar Material Collected
- ~10^20 Ions
- ~0.4 milligrams
Critical Mission Dates
- August 8, 2001 - Launch
- October 21, 2001 - Collection phase begins
- November 16, 2001 - Insertion around L1
- April 2, 2004 - Collection phase ends
- May 2, 2004 - Earth flyby on way to L2
- September 8, 2004 - Payload arrival at Earth / Science analysis phase
begins
- September 8, 2007 - Science analysis phase ends
discovery.nasa.gov/dawn.html
www.genesismission.org
genesismission.jpl.nasa.gov
Other NASA Discovery Program Missions
·NEAR·
·Mars Pathfinder·
·Lunar Prospector·
·Stardust·
·CONTOUR·
·MESSENGER·
·Deep Impact·
·Dawn·
·Kepler·
·ASPERA-3·