Death of Genesis
Space Probe Fails to Deploy Chute, Slams into Earth
By Leonard David
The probe was supposed to deploy a parachute and be snagged by a helicopter for safe recovery.
It didn’t work. The capsule slammed into the hard dirt in Utah.
There is a precedent for this maneuver working in the past, but that was for cheap spy satellites. For something of this magnitude and expense, this was a dumb plan from the get-go. It added all kinds of risk needlessly. At the very least, they could have done this over water and given the satellite some second chance. They could have had it come in the old fashioned way, with big parachutes. Sure it would have added more expense to the project, but as it is now, the expense incurred is probably 100% wasted. A little more expense and a safe recovery sure beats this result. It landed at about 100 mph, hell, put some cushion on the bottom of it. Give it SOME kind of backup protection. Look at that picture, it was built like a steel frisbee, it wedged right in the dirt. They did everything they could to make that thing enter at maximum speed and their only backup plan was a helicopter grabbing it out of the air.
Gawd NASA, THINK!
Tags: Technology
Hi Moon,
Since you wrote the above I’m sure you know that the devices to deploy the chutes didn’t fire… why?… maybe they were damaged during the mission, who knows?… but as you may know, scientists are trying hard to find the reason because the upcoming Stardust mission uses a very similar recovery system. With this mission it is even more critical for the Stardust payload to be captured safely because particles are being returned in a semi-solid substance. For scientific measurements the block of the solid stuff can’t be damaged. while the plates of the Genesis collector, even broken, will yield scientific data, the Stardust mission will be lost if it slams earth like Genesis.
Does NASA control know exactly where the craft will hit if the chutes don’t open? At what point will they know this? If so and there is enough time, how about covering the impact area (desert floor) with something to help absorb the shock? The next question is, what can be constructed that will take a 200mph hit and keep the craft intact?
What do ya think?
“If so and there is enough time, how about covering the impact area (desert floor) with something to help absorb the shock? The next question is, what can be constructed that will take a 200mph hit and keep the craft intact?
What do ya think?”
Anything is better than the plan they have now alone. That’s the main beef of my gripe is that they only had one possible means of capturing Genesis, and that one means relied on a lot of variables that are beyond the forces man can control. NASA has a good idea of where something is going to land, but I don’t think it’s precise enough to put something there to catch it or soften the blow. That’s why they pick the deserts and oceans is it leaves a wide range for error. In theory a huge collapsable fishnet would work, a loose sand box, foam, anything that would absorb the hit in a cushioning fashion as opposed to a direct hit on solid dirt. It was speculated a while back the Genesis was damaged by a large solar flare. I believe that is what caussed the explosive malfunction. I don’t think Stardust was affected by that flare as it was heading in the opposite direction. If Stardust lands smoothly, the the solar flare is the most likely scenario.
Genesis has some usable data. I’m glad for that. I’m still pretty disgusted with NASA tho.
Stardust is Home
Stardust landed last night. Unlike Genesis, Stardust landed perfectly in the desert. It was a little off course, but that was the worst of it apparently. Stardust@home is now a reality. This is very cool considering especially the bizarre path
[...] landed last night. Unlike Genesis, Stardust landed perfectly in the desert. It was a little off course, but that was the worst of it apparently. Stardust@home is now a [...]
[...] path started in 1999. Now you see why I call it zigging Stardust. Bad pun, but one I enjoy. Hopefully this one will land a little more smoothly than Genesis did. Technorati Tags: jpl, NASA, stardust, [...]