![]() In its collecting configuration, the Genesis spacecraft exposed several types of solar wind collectors, as well as ion and electron monitors. | |
Mission type | Sample-return mission |
---|---|
Operator | NASA · JPL |
COSPAR ID | 2001-034A |
SATCAT no. | 26884 |
Website | genesismission |
Mission duration | 3 years, 30 days, 23 hours, 44 minutes[1] |
Spacecraft properties | |
Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin Space Systems |
Launch mass | 636 kg (1,402 lb)[2] |
Dry mass | 494 kg (1,089 lb)[3] |
Dimensions | 2.3 × 2.0 m (7.5 × 6.6 ft)[3] |
Power | 254 W (solar array / NiH2 battery)[3] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | August 8, 2001, 16:13:40UTC[2] (23 years, 20 days ago) |
Rocket | Delta II 7326-9.5 (D287)[2] |
Launch site | Cape Canaveral SLC-17A[2] |
Contractor | Boeing |
End of mission | |
Landing date | September 8, 2004, 15:58UTC[2] (19 years, 11 months, 20 days ago) |
Landing site | Dugway Proving Ground, Utah 40°11′19″N 113°12′46″W / 40.18861°N 113.21278°W |
![]() Official insignia for the Genesis mission |
Genesis was a NASA sample-return probe that collected a sample of solar wind particles and returned them to Earth for analysis. It was the first NASA sample-return mission to return material since the Apollo program, and the first to return material from beyond the orbit of the Moon.[4][5] Genesis was launched on August 8, 2001, and the sample return capsule crash-landed in Utah on September 8, 2004, after a design flaw prevented the deployment of its drogue parachute. The crash contaminated many of the sample collectors. Although most were damaged, some of the collectors were successfully recovered.[6]
The Genesis science team demonstrated that some of the contamination could be removed or avoided, and that the solar wind particles could be analyzed using a variety of approaches, achieving all of the mission's major science objectives.[7][8]
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