Tue, Sep 14, 2004
Scientists May Be Able To Retrieve Vital Particles From
Genesis
Genesis might just be saved.
That's the word from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena (CA).
The $246 million mission ended with a thud last week when its
parachute failed to deploy. The refrigerator-sized saucer, designed
to capture untainted solar particles as they streamed from the sun,
ended up in a smoking crater in the Utah desert.
The solar particles were collected on the faces of thin, exotic
wafers inside the capsule. Some of those wafers shattered on
impact. Others were ejected. But the Christian Science Monitor
reports scientists, using a flashlight and a mirror taped to the
end of a stick have found that many actually survived the 193 mph
impact.
"The science team is really excited," Roger Wiens, one of the
project's lead scientists, told the Monitor. "We should be able to
meet many, if not all, of our primary science goals."
That big sigh of relief you just heard came from NASA
headquarters.
Backers of the Genesis project didn't think it possible -- but
they decided to try a salvage operation anyway.
"I was concerned about prolonged exposure of these in the soil,"
said principle investigator Donald Burnett. "So I got the job of
picking them out. It's rather therapeutic."
The trick, however, will be to decontaminate the wafers and
their fragments, to sort out contamination from Earth's atmosphere
and isolate the solar particles scientists believe hold the key to
understanding more about our origins.
"We may appeal to people in the semiconductor industry who have
talents and procedures" for such decontamination efforts, Burnett
told the Monitor.
More News
From 2023 (YouTube Version): Legacy of a Titan Robert (Bob) Anderson Hoover was a fighter pilot, test pilot, flight instructor, and air show superstar. More so, Bob Hoover was an i>[...]
Get The Latest in Aviation News NOW on Instagram Are you on Instagram yet? It's been around for a few years, quietly picking up traction mostly thanks to everybody's new obsession >[...]
Aero Linx: B-52H Stratofortress The B-52H Stratofortress is a long-range, heavy bomber that can perform a variety of missions. The bomber is capable of flying at high subsonic spee>[...]
Altimeter Setting The barometric pressure reading used to adjust a pressure altimeter for variations in existing atmospheric pressure or to the standard altimeter setting (29.92).>[...]
"Knowing that we play an active part in bettering people's lives is extremely rewarding. My team and I are very thankful for the opportunity to be here and to help in any way we ca>[...]