October 2001 Genesis Mission E-News
Week of October 22: Preparations have begun for inserting the spacecraft into orbit about the first Lagrangian point, L1, which will occur on November 16, 2001. The backshell of the sample return capsule, still in the “cracked open” position, will be closed completely in preparation for orbit insertion on November 13. Science will be paused on November 15 and then restarted on November 19.
Recent activities on the spacecraft include continuing to check out the science instruments and the WIND algorithm, which will be used to automatically determine the type of solar wind that is passing by the spacecraft, then extend or stow the appropriate solar wind collector arrays to catch particles in the wind.
A solar shock and coronal mass ejection reached the spacecraft about 16:30 Universal time on October 21. There was a slight noise increase in the electron monitor when the shock came through. LANL reports, “Everything looks hunky-dory.”
Visit the mission status page at: http://www.genesismission.org/mission/statusupdate.html to review status reports since the time of launch.
Launch Replay
After a flawless launch on August 8 at 12:13:40 p.m. EDT, the Genesis spacecraft is on its mission to “catch a piece of the sun.” View JPL news release and launch replay at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2001/release_2001_169.html
Kennedy Space Center maintains a photo archive of images that reveal mission progress from the time of spacecraft arrival at Cape Canaveral until the time of launch. You can view these spectacular images at: http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/captions/subjects/genesis.htm
Genesis Discussion Forums
Genesis Education and Public Outreach announces the debut of its online discussion forums.
These forums offer an opportunity to exchange ideas and offer suggestions on a variety of mission outreach activities and services. Initial forums are targeted to classroom teachers who are using Genesis education materials. You can collaborate with other teachers across the country, share great teaching strategies, and request ideas or suggestions. There are four types of educator forums: 1) Network Talk, 2) Genesis Education Modules: Middle School, 3) Genesis Education Modules: High School, and 4) Genesis Kids. Use this opportunity to talk with other teachers just like you! For information on how to participate, contact John Ristvey at: jristvey@mcrel.org
NASA’s Office of Space Science and the Discovery Program Quarterly Newsletters
Do you like to be kept informed of recent developments in NASA mission programs and their outreach activities? Two quarterly NASA newsletters that are a “must read” are NASA’s Office of Space Science (OSS) Quarterly Newsletter and the Discovery Program Newsletter. You can subscribe to the OSS newsletter by e-mailing Larry Cooper, editor, at: larrycooper@oai.org The Discovery Program Newsletter is posted quarterly online at the Discovery mission newsletter page: http://discovery.nasa.gov/newsletters_archive.html
For the Conference-Attending Teachers
Are you attending the November 13-17 National Alliance of Black School Educators conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center? At the Jet Propulsion Laboratory booth, Genesis Education and Public Outreach Coordinator Dr. Gil Yanow will demonstrate two technology-rich education products: the interactive periodic table and the cleanroom electronic field trip. For Texas educators, look for the Genesis mission booth at the Science Teachers Association of Texas annual convention at the Austin Convention Center, November 1-3.
Both of these conference booths will feature mission products for your classrooms, including posters, module handouts, fact sheets, and bookmarks.
