Genesis Mission Outreach E-News, 41stEdition April 2003

Genesis Mission Status Updates  April 25, 2003

The Genesis spacecraft continues its mission collecting solar wind material expelled from the Sun. Telemetry from the Genesis spacecraft indicates the spacecraft is in overall good health and as of the morning of April 25, the spacecraft was about 1.371 million kilometers (.852 million miles) from Earth.

Recent solar activity has called for the ‘high solar speed’ collector array to be deployed 100% of the time. There are three collector arrays aboard Genesis that are exposed to, or hidden from, the solar wind. One collector array for each of the three solar wind regimes. Which collector array is exposed is determined by the data received by sensitive ion and electron monitors located on the spacecraft’s equipment deck. These monitors scrutinize the solar wind passing by the spacecraft and relay this information to the onboard computer, which in turn commands the collector arrays to deploy and retract as needed.

Genesis Vital Statistics:

• — 626 days since launch.
• — 344 days to planned completion of solar particle collection.
• — 501 days to Genesis return to Earth.

You can follow mission progress on our status updates page at:http://www.genesismission.org/mission/statusupdate.html

Where is the Genesis Spacecraft Now?

View the simulated position of the Genesis spacecraft. Most images are updated every 10 minutes. http://www.genesismission.org/mission/live_shots.html

JPL WELCOMES YOU

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will once again open its doors to the public during its annual Open House to be heldSaturday and Sunday, May 17 and 18, 2003, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.This popular event will celebrate JPL’s accomplishments with exhibits and demonstrations about the Laboratory’s ongoing research and space exploration. You can learn more about this event at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pso/oh.html

STUDENTS GET INVOLVED!

Students can get involved in the Genesis mission in many ways—even with their music! Dara Mersky was 17 years old and a high school student when she composed the pieces that became the musical signature for the Genesis mission video,Testing to Assure Mission Success: A Look Inside Los Alamos National Laboratory. In her interview, Dara notes that, “It’s definitely a greater accomplishment than I ever expected to achieve with my music, because the compositions were something that I just did for fun. I’m grateful that I was able to contribute to something so worthwhile.” You can meet Dara in her interview at: http://www.genesismission.org/product/student_spotlight/daramersky.html

WHAT THE TEACHERS SAID

Education materials are a big part of Genesis mission outreach. Many, many of teachers use the materials in their classrooms. When they take the time to field test modules and give us valuable feedback, we value their comments. Here’s what some teachers had to say about the “Heat, an Agent of Change” module:

http://www.genesismission.org/educate/scimodule/teachersaid.html

Genesis Mission Outreach E-News features information about the mission, its outreach Web site, and products, services, and materials available from the McREL Genesis Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) team.Genesis is managed for NASA’s Space Science Division by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Genesis is a collaborative partnership made up of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Johnson Space Center (JSC) and Los Alamos National Laboratory(LANL). The Genesis mission is the fifth chosen for NASA’s Discovery Program. Genesis education materials are developed under contract by Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), Aurora, CO.