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Genesis Launch
Genesis was launched Aug. 8, 2001, at 12:13:40 p.m. from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The launch vehicle was a Delta II model 7326 rocket, similar to Deltas that have launched other recent solar system exploration missions. -
Halo Orbit Insertion
Genesis entered orbit around on Nov. 16, 2001. At arrival, the spacecraft's thrusters fired to put it into an elliptical, or looping, orbit. The Genesis completed five orbits. Nearly 80% of the mission's total time was spent collecting ions from the Sun. -
Start of Sample Collection of Solar Wind
The Genesis opened its collector arrays and began accepting particles of solar wind on Dec. 3, 2001. A total of 850 days were logged exposing the special collector arrays to the solar wind. These collector arrays are circular trays composed of palm-sized tiles made of various high-purity materials such as silicon, sapphire, gold and diamond-like carbon. -
Completion of Sample Collection
The collection of pristine particles of the Sun came to an end on April 1, 2004, when the Genesis team ordered the spacecraft's collectors stowed. The closeout process was completed on April 2, when Genesis closed and sealed the spacecraft's sample return capsule. The capsule will remain sealed until NASA technicians open it in a temporary clean-room facility in Utah.The canister will then be removed and transported to NASA's Johnson Space Center, where the materials it contains will be removed. -
Return Phase
On April 22, 2004, Genesis began its journey back toward its home planet (Earth). This was initiated by the first of five planned thruster firings during the mission's return phase designed to fine-tune the spacecraft's flight path for its return to Earth. -
Recovery Phase (Aug 9th- Sept 8th)
The Genesis team refers to the final 30 days of flight — from Aug. 9 to Sept. 8, 2004 — as the recovery phase of the mission. The location of the landing footprint for the Genesis capsule will be predicted by tracking the spacecraft before the capsule's release. Since the capsule does not have a propulsion system, there is no way to abort the entry sequence following its release. -
Johnson Space Center (JSC)
At NASA's Johnson Space Center, the materials the spacecraft's sample return capsule contains will be removed in a state-of-the art clean room installed specifically for the Genesis mission. -
Rough Landing
On is return to Earth, Genesis experienced a non-nominal reentry where both the drogue and main parachutes failed to deploy causing the capsule to impact the surface of the UTTR desert at a speed of 193 mph. The impact caused severe damage to the capsule and a breach of the science canister in the field. The spacecraft was found on its side with about 50% of the capsule below the surface and the drogue mortar and pyrotechnic devices undeployed. Upon landing the canister was contaminated. -
Sample Return Capsule (SRC) returns to Earth
At about 2 a.m. MDT Sept. 8, the Genesis team conducted one final teleconference to discuss the status of the spacecraft's trajectory. After receiving a "go," they radioed the spacecraft to start executing a series of commands to release the sample return capsule back to earth. -
Atmosphere Entry
The capsule entered Earth's atmosphere at a velocity of about 24,706 miles per hour. The only human-made object to re-enter Earth's atmosphere at a higher speed was the Apollo 10 command module, which hit 24,861 mph. When it entered the atmosphere, the Genesis capsule was over northern Oregon. The capsule stabilized with its nose down because of the location of its center of gravity, its spin rate and its aerodynamic shape. -
Backup Orbit
Throughout the recovery phase, the Genesis team would closely evaluate the spacecraft's re-entry trajectory. If at any point navigators and mission planners felt the spacecraft and/or its sample return capsule would not achieve required entry targeting specifications, they could go to “plan B” — a backup orbit. Navigators have designed secondary plan that would place the spacecraft and its capsule in a six-month backup orbit around Earth over the Utah Test & Training Range.
