Genesis Parachute Failure Investigation

摘要

The Genesis mission was launched in August 2001 on a journey to capture samples from the storehouse of 99% of all the material in our solar system-the sun (Fig. 1). The samples of solar wind particles, collected on ultra-pure wafers of gold, sapphire, silicon, and diamond, were designed to be returned for analysis by Earth-bound scientists. The USD264 million mission, meant to reveal clues about the origin of our solar system, appeared to be streaming home to a perfect conclusion when the parachutes failed to open and the 450 pound Sample Return Capsule (SRC) crashed.