Genesis

Recovery
On September 8, 2004, the Genesis sample return capsule (SRC) made a hard landing at the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) in Dugway, Utah when its parachutes failed to deploy upon re-entry. As a result of the impact, portions of the capsule and payload were destroyed and many of the components were exposed to contamination sources in the environment. It took nearly two days to recover all of the components at the site and nearly one month to sort and prepare them for transport to JSC. However, more than half of the capsule and a majority of the payload were recovered. Over the past year and half, scientists and curation experts have made great strides in understanding contamination issues, identifying evidence of micrometeoroid impacts, and extracting the primary science of the mission. An investigation into the cause of parachute anomaly has been closed and the Genesis hardware is now available to the community for scientific and engineering investigations.

Geometry
The Genesis capsule and science canister were centered on the space craft bus with the canister located concentrically within the heatshield of the capsule. The propellant tank, solar wind instruments, and navigation equipment were located on the bus below the capsule, and the solar panels extended from the bus. Neither the bus nor the solar panels were returned to Earth. The capsule weighed ~ 450 lbs, had a diameter of 60 inches, and had a height of 31.7 inches and was attached to the bus on the heatshield side. The canister and capsule operated on separate hinges, 180º out of phase and opened independently. The electronic components (avionics, battery …etc.) were located in the base of the heatshield below thermal radiator panels which spanned the gap between the outer diameter of the canister and inner diameter of the heatshield. The backshell was lined with MLI, covered with a large area foil collector for solar wind.

The photograph on the right is of the engineering model of the Genesis spacecraft shows the deployed configuration of the capsule, canister, and arrays, as well as the spacecraft bus below. The hinges are 180º apart at the top and bottom of the frame, and the thermal closeout panels can be clearly seen.

Genesis Mission Home Page