Genesis space capsule - reason for crash
NASA has determined the cause of the Genesis capsule crash into the desert floor a few months ago.
From the
South Florida Sun-Sentinel:
bq.
Faulty installation of switch doomed Genesis, NASA says
NASA's Genesis space capsule crashed in the Utah desert last month because a critical piece of equipment that was supposed to trigger the release of two parachutes apparently was installed backward, space-agency officials said Thursday.
The finding, if verified, would be a blow to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and its major contractor on the $264 million Genesis mission, Lockheed Martin Corp., which also was involved in the 1999 loss of NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter because of a mix-up between English and metric units.
Ouch! The article also gives a short wrap-up of the capsules mission and the crash itself:
bq. The Genesis spacecraft spent nearly three years about 1 million miles from Earth gathering delicate samples of solar wind. Scientists planned to study the material flowing out from the sun in hopes of gaining clues about the early formation of the solar system.
bq. Because of fears of contamination, the mission was designed to end with a helicopter capture of the capsule before it touched the ground. Instead, the craft hit the ground at nearly 200 mph.
They don't mention the neat thing about the helicopters used to catch the capsule -- they were piloted by Hollywood stunt pilots. NASA wanted craft that were agile and they felt that the stunt pilots were the best for the job.
Posted by DaveH at October 15, 2004 2:27 PM