- There were four winners
in the patch design contest for the Genesis Mission.
How did you decide which one to use for the mission?
All four winning patches were used. The Genesis mision is unmanned. Therefore,
there was no requirement for one mission patch that we might see on an astronaut’s
space suit or helmet. The four patches selected from the four age categories
were used in Genesis mission public outreach materials. All four are displayed
on the Genesis Web site, and they may be featured on items requiring a mission
identifier, such as a bookmark, poster, coffee mug, etc. The winning patch
from a particular age group may be appropriate to use on products targeted
to that age group.
- What
are the goals of the Genesis mission?
The main goals of the Genesis mission are to return to Earth a collection
of solar wind particles which are representative of the composition of the
sun analyze these materials in Earth laboratories in order to understand
the initial building blocks of our solar system more accurately than ever
before examine how well various scientific models of solar system formation
work from data analysis
store a collection of solar wind particles for future study by 21st century
scientists with more advanced instruments.
- What
kinds of data will the Genesis mission collect?
Genesis is a sample return mission. A spacecraft goes out into space and
collects particles of solar wind emitted from the outer regions of the sun.
Solar wind is matter that represents the composition of the sun. All analysis
of collected materials will be done on Earth.
During the mission, instruments will be sending back electronic data about
the type of solar wind being sampled during the collection process. This
data will be available for analysis while the spacecraft is away from Earth.
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- What
kind of information from space can we expect to get?
We expect to better understand the composition of the sun. From this, scientists
hope to infer the nature of the materials that formed our Earth and solar
system.
- How
can we infer anything about the origins of the solar
system by collecting and analyzing these particles
from the sun?
The sun contains over 99% of the matter in our solar system. Most scientists
believe that the sun and all the planets came from the material that made
up the original solar nebula, a cloud of gas and dust. The outer regions
of the sun still contain most of its original material. These are the regions
from which the solar wind originates. Captured solar wind particles should
indicate the composition of the materials that formed the solar system.
- How
will this information be used by NASA and by others?
When the collected materials are returned to the Earth, scientists from all
over the world will be given the opportunity to propose research to study
these particles of solar wind, representing the composition of the sun.
- Why
is it important to grab these particles way out there
in space? If solar wind eventually hits the Earth,
why not collect it once it gets here?
The Earth has a strong magnetic field. This magnetic field does not let the
pure solar wind atoms reach us on the surface. Therefore we must collect
solar wind out in space, outside of the influence of the Earth’s magnetic
field.
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- What
are the significant dates/milestones for the Genesis
mission? How long will it be up there?
The Genesis mission will launch in early January, 2001. It will collect solar
wind particles while orbiting the L1 point from May 2001 until March 2003.
It will then return to Earth. The Sample Return Capsule will reenter the
Earth’s atmosphere and be retrieved in midair in August 2003.
- How
is the sample going to be retrieved?
The samples of solar wind will be inside a capsule designed to re-enter the
Earth’s atmosphere safely. It has a specially designed heat shield
to protect it from the approximately 2000 oC heat generated during reentry.
Once it has done this, a special parachute will open to slow down the capsule
and allow it to slowly glide down toward the surface of the Earth. When it
reaches a sufficiently low altitude, a helicopter will snag the parachute
lines before it reaches the ground. Mission designers do not want the samples
to be damaged by a landing on hard ground.
- Why
was the mission named "Genesis?"
The Genesis mission is concerned with finding out about the conditions present
at the very beginning of our solar system.
- Will
people go in the rocket?
No. Genesis is an unmanned mission–the spacecraft is a robot designed
for sample collection in space. It is mainly autonomous, but it can act on
instructions sent by radio communication from Earth.
- Are
there other unmanned missions planned?
Yes, there are many unmanned missions planned. Genesis is part of a group
of unmanned missions called the Discovery series. Some of these missions
have already launched, and others have not yet been selected.
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- What
does the Genesis mission cost?
The total cost of the mission, including the rocket that launches it into
space and all our communications systems, is a little over $200 million dollars.
This is about what it costs to produce a big Hollywood movie.
- How
can science teachers use the Genesis mission to capture
student interest in science?
Much of the science and engineering we use for Genesis is what might be called "elementary
science." Genesis shows how scientists and engineers use things we may
only have read about, like the Second Law of Thermodynamics, in the real
world. Teachers can use information about the Genesis mission to show applications
of basic concepts they are teaching.
Also, the Genesis mission is exciting because it will be the first mission
to bring matter from a star, our sun, back to Earth. Students often learn
more effectively when the material being presented is interesting to them.
Use the Genesis mission to "hook" students’ interest, and
start them learning about science concepts.
The Genesis mission may be thought of as the greatest detective story to
ever challenge the human mind. The clues of what happened during the formation
of our solar system were left behind in the outer regions of the sun. By
gathering these clues and examining them with logical scientific processes,
we can discover some of what happened so long ago.
Are
there classroom materials related to Genesis
for science teachers? How can they be ordered?
Yes. The Genesis education team continues to develop materials for teachers
and students throughout the mission. All these materials, along with special
products and programs, will be announced on the Genesis
website. The materials are free for teachers to use in their classrooms,
and include easily printed teacher and student pages.
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