Genesis Update
14 Mar 2003
(Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
http://www.genesismission.org/mission/statusupdate.html
Genesis Mission Status Update
March 14, 2003
The Genesis spacecraft continues to operate in overall good health. It has collected solar wind material expelled from the Sun for almost 15 months.
Over this past week, the spacecraft's "low solar speed" collector array has been logging the majority of collection time. There are three collector arrays aboard Genesis that are exposed to or hidden from the solar wind, one for each of the three solar wind regimes. Which collector array is exposed is determined by the data received by sensitive ion and electron monitors located on the spacecraft's equipment deck. These monitors scrutinize the solar wind passing by the spacecraft and relay this information to the onboard computer, which in turn commands the collector arrays to deploy and retract as needed.
Genesis Vital Statistics:
-- 583 days since launch.
-- 387 days to planned completion of solar particle collection.
-- 544 days to Genesis return to Earth.