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Genesis Solar-Wind Sample Return Mission: The MaterialsThe Genesis spacecraft has two primary instruments which passively collect solar wind. The first is the collector arrays , a set of panels, each of which can deploy separately to sample the different kinds of solar wind (regimes). The second is the concentrator, an electrostatic mirror which will concentrate ions of mass 4 through mass 25 by about a factor of 20 by focusing them onto a 6 cm diameter target. When not deployed, these instruments fit into a compact canister. After a two year exposure time, the deployed instruments can be folded up, sealed into the canister, and returned to earth for laboratory analysis. Both the collector arrays and the concentrator will contain suites of ultra-high purity target materials, each of which is tailored to enable the analysis of a different family of elements. This abstract is meant to give a brief overview of the Genesis mission, insight into what materials were chosen for flight and why, as well as head s up information as to what will be available to planetary scientist for analysis when the solar-wind samples return to Earth in 2003. Earth. The elemental and isotopic abundances of the solar wind will be analyzed in state-of-the-art laboratories, and a portion of the sample will be archived for the use of future generations of planetary scientists. Technical information about the mission can be found at www.gps.caltech.edu/genesis.
Document ID
20040010591
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Other
Authors
Jurewicz, A. J. G.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Burnett, D. S.
(California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Wiens, R. C.
(Los Alamos National Lab. NM, United States)
Woolum, D.
(California State Univ. Fullerton, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2003
Publication Information
Publication: Space Science Reference Guide, 2nd Edition
Subject Category
Solar Physics
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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