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Planetary News: Genesis (2004)

NASA Assessing Damage to Genesis Capsule from Crash. Some Science May Be Recovered.

By Amir Alexander
8 September 2004

Genesis team members and specialists from NASA and Lockheed Martin are hard at work recovering the Genesis sample return capsule from its crash site in the Utah desert. While the extent of the damage to the science payload is not known, scientists are hopeful that some scientific results may yet be salvaged from the mission.

Here's what is known so far:

  • At 9:53am, Mountain Daylight Time, the return capsule entered the Earth's atmosphere above northern Oregon. The timing and the trajectory were precisely as planned.
  • Minutes later, when the capsule was above western Utah, an explosive device referred to as a "mortar" was to detonate. This was designed to release a drogue parachute, which shortly thereafter would release the parafoil on which the capsule was to descend, until captured in mid-air by helicopters.
  • For an unknown reason, the mortar did not detonate. As a result, neither the drogue parachute nor the parafoil deployed, and the sample return capsule continued on its ballistic trajectory onto the ground.
  • At 9:58am, MDT, the sample return capsule slammed into the ground well within the projected landing ellipse.
  • At the moment of impact, the capsule was traveling at 310 kilometers per hour (193 mph).
  • As a result of the impact, both the capsule's outer shell and the inner science canister were breached. The collector arrays, containing pristine Solar wind particles were shattered, though the size of the fragments is not known.
  • The Genesis team is now following a contingency plan that was devised for precisely this scenario. Mission specialists are now determining how to approach the capsule safely without detonating the unexploded pyrotechnics. By the end of the day the capsule, or at least the science canister, will have been removed from the crash site to a clean room at Michael Air Force Base. Scientists will then attempt to determine how much of the science can be recovered.

The main problem for the science team at this point is contamination with Earth matter, said Don Sevilla, the payload recovery team leader.

The mid-air capture of the Genesis sample return capsule was set for this morning at the Dugway Proving Ground in western Utah. Helicopters with professional stunt pilots at the helm were already hovering in their assigned position, waiting to snag the capsule in mid-air with specially designed hooks as it parachuted gently down. Instead, the capsule hurtled down at close to 200 miles per hour, and slammed into the ground.

The capsule contained captured atoms from the Solar wind - the stream of particles flowing out from the outer layers of the Sun. Since these particles have not changed since the time our region of the galaxy was but a swirling cloud of gas and dust, scientists hoped they would provide important clues about the history of the Solar System.

Genesis is not the only mission that will attempt to land samples from space in the near future. Stardust, which on January 2 of this year flew by comet Wild-2 collecting pristine fragments from its coma, is currently on its way to Earth. On January 15, 2006, Stardust will release its own sample return capsule, which like the Genesis capsule will be aimed at the Utah desert. Stardust is relying on much the same technology as Genesis, and the fate of Genesis is undoubtedly unsettling to the Stardust team. Keep checking with us for more news on what today's events might mean for Stardust and other sample return missions.

PLANETARY PROTECTION

Genesis is the first mission to return samples from space to Earth since the Apollo astronauts and Soviet robotic landers brought home hundreds of pounds of Lunar rocks in the 1970s. The failure of Genesis' landing procedures, and especially the breach of its samples compartment, raises important questions on planetary protection. How safe is it to bring to Earth matter from space, and what risks do we run if things go wrong, as they did for Genesis?