Sep 8 2004
From The Space Library
NASA's Genesis space capsule returned to Earth but experienced a problematic landing, which NASA officials feared might have damaged the capsule's scientific cargo. NASA had launched Genesis in August 2001 to collect particle samples from solar winds, samples that scientists hoped would provide information about the solar system's chemical composition during its formation stages. To return Genesis to Earth, NASA had designed the capsule to release a rectangular parachute, which helicopters would grab, gently lowering the spacecraft to Earth. However, the parachute failed to deploy, and Genesis crashed into a desert area of Utah at nearly 200 miles per hour (322 kilometers per hour). Although NASA officials were uncertain about the extent of damage to the spacecraft's cargo, their initial prognosis was that researchers could still use some of the samples in scientific analyses. (Guy Gugliotta, “Spacecraft Crashes with Solar Data,” Washington Post, 9 September 2004; NASA JPL, “Genesis: Mission History ~ Launch,” 23 June 2008, http://genesismission.jpl.nasa.gov/gm2/mission/launch.htm (accessed 7 May 2009).
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