[meteorite-list] Mad dash for movie pilots - NASA's Genesis spacecraft

From: Jeff Kuyken <jeff_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Sep 7 03:35:35 2004
Message-ID: <005a01c494ad$38ca1f80$8a348690_at_mandin4f89ypwu>

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,10688455%5e401,00.html

Mad dash for movie pilots
By Michelle Pountney
September 7, 2004

HOLLYWOOD stunt pilots will grab a piece of the sun in a daredevil retrieval
of one of NASA's most ambitious space projects.

Early on Thursday morning, a space capsule containing about 10 to 20
micrograms of the sun's solar wind elements will return to Earth in a
spectacular blazing fireball.

As it streaks over the east coast of the US at 11km/second, the recovery
capsule from NASA's Genesis spacecraft will glow 100 times brighter than
Venus in the morning sky.

Slowed by parachutes, the 1.5m x 81cm capsule will eventually descend
towards Earth above the US Air Force's Utah Test and Training Range.

Hollywood stunt pilots in two helicopters will catch the fizzled fireball,
plucking it from mid air using a long hook extended from the helicopters'
bellies.


Plucking the capsule from the sky will protect its precious contents from
being contaminated if it were to split as it hit the ground.

Scientists believe solar wind samples could help them understand how the Sun
and planets were formed.

The samples of solar wind, which Genesis has collected over 27 months, are
equivalent to a few grains of salt.

Scientists believe the make-up of solar wind is almost identical to the
primeval solar nebula, the cloud from which the sun and planets condensed
4.5 billion years ago.

The fiery re-entry will also give astronomers the chance to study hot
shockwaves in front of the capsule, which they expect to behave similarly to
a meteor.

Meteors about the same size and velocity as the Genesis capsule hit Earth
several times a year.

"It's so hard to catch a genuine asteroid in the act of re-entering," said
NASA meteor expert Peter Jenniskens.

"We are interested in the physical and chemical conditions in the shockwave
that can change the organic material in asteroids into pre-biotic molecules
for life's origins," he said.

After the return the solar wind samples, collected on wafers of gold,
sapphire, silicone and diamond, will be analysed by scientists across the
world.

The samples will provide vital information on the composition of the sun,
and shed light on the origins of our solar system.

"Our spacecraft has logged almost 27 months, far beyond the moon's orbit,
collecting atoms from the sun," said senior Genesis team member Dr Don
Burnett. "With it, we should be able to say what the sun is composed

of at a level of precision that has never been seen before."

The Genesis mission was launched on August 8, 2001 and collected samples
from December 3, 2001 to April 1, 2004.

Two minutes and seven seconds after the Genesis space capsule re-enters
Earth's atmosphere over Oregon on Thursday, the capsule will release a 2m
parachute while 33km above Earth.

Six minutes later the main parachute measuring 10.5m x 3.1m will deploy
6.1km above the Earth's surface. Waiting below will be the two helicopters
and their three-man flight crews.

The choppers have a 6m pole suspended from them to grab the capsule and its
parachute.

The second helicopter will be about 330m behind the first one to set up for
its approach if the first grab fails.

The helicopters will have up to five opportunities to grab the falling
capsule.

Herald Sun
Received on Tue 07 Sep 2004 03:35:15 AM PDT