Any species that aims for the stars will burn its fingertips. Most likely, many times. A memorable reminder of our spacefaring mistakes is provided by NASA’s Astronomy Picture Of The Day website. The caption of the photo says, “A flying saucer originating from outer space crashes-landed in Utah desert after being closely followed by radar and chased down by helicopters,” although NASA doesn’t mention any alien encounter.
Half-buried in the desert soil, the battered dish was the Genesis spacecraft’s return capsule. It wasn’t meant to smash into the ground with this force. NASA launched the Genesis project on August 8, 2001. It was an ambitious effort to launch a spacecraft into our star’s solar wind to collect samples and return them to Earth. Researchers wanted to find out more about the elements that were present at the origin of the Solar System’s planets by gathering data on the compositions of charged particles coming from the Sun’s Corona. The Genesis spacecraft came equipped with a sample capsule to return solar wind elements. It was used during its two-year orbit around Lagrange point 1. This is one of few places in space where gravity and Sun are perfectly balanced. The vessel collected solar wind by folding out several collector arrays. Each one was filled with high-purity elements such as aluminum, sapphire and silicon.
Amy Jurewicz, project scientist, explained that the materials used in the Genesis collector arrays needed to be strong enough to launch without breaking, retain the sample while it is heated by the Sun, and pure enough so we could analyze the elements of the solar wind after Earth-return.
Sun, and pure enough so we could analyze the elements of the solar wind after Earth-return. The sample capsule with its precious arrays was blasted into Utah five days later at a speedy of 310 km/h (193mph)
The plan was for a mortar to explode aboard the capsule 127 seconds after it re-enters the atmosphere. This would deploy a preliminary parachute to slow down and stabilize the fall. The capsule’s primary parachute would then fill, allowing for a leisurely descent into the Utah Test and Training Range. You can see helicopters hovering near the crash scene, ready to catch the capsule mid flight and quickly transport it to a cleanroom to reduce contamination. None of these parachutes were used. After extensive analysis, the cause of the error was found to be a set of sensors that were the same size as the metal end of a pencil. They were placed backward. These tiny gadgets sensed the increasing g forces and activated the parachutes as the capsule fell towards the ground.
As you would expect, the impact did significant damage, destroying many arrays and contaminating valuable payloads within. After the capsule had been removed from its final resting place, the project team began to salvage and analyze any remaining pieces.
The Genesis Expedition was not damaged by the spectacular arrival of the sample capsule. Some of the more durable materials survived, and researchers were capable of cleaning the surfaces without affecting the solar material. Within three years, a series of articles about the Genesis discoveries were published. The risky expedition provided new insight into the Sun’s composition as well as the differences in the elements between the Solar System’s inner worlds. Don Burnett of California Institute of Technology, Genesis principle investigator, said that “The Sun holds more then 99 percent of the stuff currently in our Solar System.” Therefore, it’s a good thing to get to know it.
We were able, despite it being more difficult than we had anticipated, to answer crucial questions. And, as with all successful missions, we were also able create a whole new set of them.
