Genesis Crash - Problem uncovered in '01???

All,

Really Sad to see what happened to Genesis. I thought this as one of
the neatest mission concepts!

In 2001, while working at JPL on the Europa Orbiter Project I worked
right around the corner from the guys you're seeing on TV who worked
on Genesis and attended the Launch "Party" and Reception at JPL. It
was really exciting, for it was the first time I was ever with the
people who devoted so much of their time to a project, seeing it with
them launch into space. Mr. Sweetnam, Mission Project Manager, always
said Hello in the hall, and I believe my only interaction with him was
trying to buy one of the neat Genesis Polo Shirts he always was
wearing . Unfortunately I missed the out on getting a shirt ordered
but I did get some neat stickers!

However, when this happened today I immediately recalled a NASA Press
Release I Got E-mail Wise about the Mission back in November of '01.
Maybe some of you remember it?

I was able to dig it up, this is quite suspect. Here's a link to an
article on the problem the press release talks about:
http://www.space.com/scienceastronom...is_011102.html
..

"Genesis Status Report
November 5, 2001
Project managers are monitoring the temperature of the battery inside
Genesis' sample return capsule to make sure that long-term heating
does not impair its performance when the capsule returns to Earth in
September 2004. Although the battery is likely to become hotter than
originally expected, the flight team has a number of options for
managing the battery's temperature, and they do not expect the issue
to affect the mission.
The mission's science requirements call for 22 months of solar wind
particle collection. "In our current plan Genesis will meet and exceed
that goal, collecting up to 26 months' worth of solar wind particles,"
said Chet Sasaki, Genesis project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
The temperature of the lithium-dioxide battery is currently at 23
degrees Celsius (73 degrees Fahrenheit), within the range anticipated
by spacecraft designers. A radiator device intended to shield the
battery is not working as well as expected, however, and the battery
is likely to heat up to 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit).
Mission managers consider this temperature to be within acceptable
limits. They note that similar batteries have been maintained at 60
degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15 months without
impairing their performance. Ground tests are being conducted on
lithium batteries to measure their durability at various temperatures.
The Genesis project team has been attempting to bake potential
contaminants off the battery's radiator by heating the area. They are
doing this with the spacecraft's sample return backshell opened just
enough to allow gas trapped inside the capsule to escape, while still
avoiding exposure to the Sun."

No guarantee this is what caused the problem, but I'm sure this is
something the mishap investigation team will thoroughly look into.

Anyways, too neat of a mission with Awesome Science not to attempt a
redo! Genesis 2 anyone?

Regards,
Ted A. Nichols II
President - ASH
www.astrohbg.org