This is kind of interesting

Michael Coren, CNN:

CNN) -- A daring trip to study the solar wind will end on Wednesday
with the midair retrieval of extraterrestrial samples above the Utah
desert. However, the scientific journey is only beginning.

"We are bringing a piece of the sun down to Earth," said Charles
Elachi, the director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,
California. "That's going to give us some fundamental understanding of
our origins."

Scientists say the data will not only reveal the composition of the
sun, but illuminate how our planet could have formed from clouds of
stellar dust.

"Four and a half billion years ago, all of the matter of the solar
system, including us, was part of a giant molecular cloud," said Don
Burnett, principal investigator for the Genesis mission. "Genesis is
providing the chemical composition of that solar nebula. ...The
material is still stored for us in the surface of the sun."

Two helicopters will be poised above a Utah Air Force base to snag the
Genesis spacecraft's return capsule. The sturdy container contains
atomic isotopes collected as particles streaming off the sun, known as
the solar wind.

The unorthodox midair retrieval will snag the first extraterrestrial
samples since the Apollo missions in the 1970s.

Genesis collected the particles over the last two years on special
tiles made from silicon, diamond, gold, sapphire and other materials.
The solar particles, embedded in the collector tiles, were ejected at
about 280 miles per second (450 km/s) from the sun's scorching corona
or outer atmosphere.

Genesis will fill in an astronomical blank spot about its makeup.

"What we've been missing is a starting point," says Burnett. "These
samples allow precise measurements of the abundance of elements and
isotopes in the sun."

Our star accounts for 99 percent of the mass in the solar system. It
is composed mostly of isotopes of hydrogen and helium and includes 60
other elements including neon, argon carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and
iron.

In all, Genesis has collected the equivalent of a few grains of the
material. Scientists say that is enough to keep researchers busy for
decades.

"We'll have a reservoir of solar matter," said Burnett. "We can meet
the requirements for (studying ) the solar composition through the
21st century."

Genesis mission
Launched in 2001 from Cape Canaveral, the Genesis spacecraft traveled
beyond the protective cloak of Earth's magnetosphere for two years
before heading home. Because of Earth's electromagnetic field, much of
the sun's deadly radiation and material never reaches the planet's
surface.

In April, the craft ejected a 500-pound return capsule for return to
Earth.

It has been approaching the planet at a leisurely 600 mph. By the time
it reaches Earth's atmosphere, the craft will be racing toward the
planet at more than 25,000 mph. It will use a series of parachutes to
slow its descent.

On Wednesday, it is expected to enter the atmosphere at 11:55 am ET
above Oregon and, just two minutes later, glide down over the Utah
desert. The main parachute, a wing-like parafoil, will deploy during
its decent and a helicopter will snatch the Genesis capsule when it is
still about a mile off the ground.

This daring retrieval method will protect the samples and sensitive
instruments during reentry. A crash landing, even at the capsule's
relatively slow speed of 9 mph, could ruin some of the data collected
during the mission.

The prospects for success look good according to NASA's retrieval
partner in the mission, the aerospace firm Vertigo.

"If they can find it, the success rate is very high," said Vertigo
official Roy Haggard.

A modified helicopter -- with a winch, hydraulic capture pole and
hundreds of feet of line -- will follow the capsule by radar until it
moves in and snags the parafoil. Because the Genesis capsule must
repressurize in the upper atmosphere, scientists want to minimize the
sample's exposure to air and possible contamination.

Once it is secured at a NASA facility, scientists can breathe easier,
said Burnett.

"After that we can take our time, and we will see what we have," he
said.

Richard wrote:

The prospects for success look good according to NASA's retrieval
partner in the mission, the aerospace firm Vertigo.

"If they can find it, the success rate is very high," said Vertigo
official Roy Haggard.

A modified helicopter -- with a winch, hydraulic capture pole and
hundreds of feet of line -- will follow the capsule by radar until it
moves in and snags the parafoil. Because the Genesis capsule must
repressurize in the upper atmosphere, scientists want to minimize the
sample's exposure to air and possible contamination.

Once it is secured at a NASA facility, scientists can breathe easier,
said Burnett.

"After that we can take our time, and we will see what we have," he
said.

NASA recruited some helicopter stunt pilots for the retrieval mission.
They usually work for the movie industry.


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On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 18:31:29 -0400, Richard
wrote:

Michael Coren, CNN:

Once it is secured at a NASA facility, scientists can breathe easier,
said Burnett.

"After that we can take our time, and we will see what we have," he
said.

I don't think it's breathing anymore.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...enesis_capsule