[GENESIS] Update on Genesis impact

Mike Dicenso wrote:

All may not be lost just yet. The latest report from Spaceflight Now
states that the capsule and canister, while cracked and broken, has
allowed a view inside, and that it appears that some of the collector
surfaces are intact on the structure in which they are mounted. The
biggest concern is, of course, contamination of the sample surfaces, if
they are indeed still intact.


Oh, I'm sure NASA will describe the mission as a "partial success" no
matter what...but who would have expected that one of the major
constituents of the solar wind was silica dioxide? ;-)


Pat

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004, Pat Flannery wrote:



Mike Dicenso wrote:

All may not be lost just yet. The latest report from Spaceflight Now
states that the capsule and canister, while cracked and broken, has
allowed a view inside, and that it appears that some of the collector
surfaces are intact on the structure in which they are mounted. The
biggest concern is, of course, contamination of the sample surfaces, if
they are indeed still intact.


Oh, I'm sure NASA will describe the mission as a "partial success" no
matter what...but who would have expected that one of the major
constituents of the solar wind was silica dioxide? ;-)


Not really. It would have been a true loss, if the capsule had slammed
right into a rocky mountain side, or the ground had not been softened by
the recent rains. There ain't no getting a "partial" success out of that
kind of situation. ;-)
-Mike