Space Capsule Crashes in Utah Desert

HOUSTON, Texas, September 9, 2004 (ENS) - A U.S. space capsule filled with solar particles crashed into the Utah desert Wednesday morning after its parachutes failed to open, according to officials with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The crash puts at risk the first pristine sample of solar particles ever collected by spacecraft and returned to Earth.

Scientists hope the particles will answer questions about the composition of the Sun and the origins of the solar system.

"We can see that the capsule has suffered extensive damage, it has broken apart," said Chris Jones, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's director of solar system exploration. “Whether or not we can recover any of the science remains to be seen.”

The science canister from the Genesis spacecraft at its impact site at the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. (Photo courtesy NASA)

A small parachute was supposed to have deployed some 19 miles above ground, with a second opening when the capsule was some 20,000 feet above ground.

The recovery team had hoped to then snag the capsule in midair by helicopter - with the aid of Hollywood stuntmen - and gently bring it down to Earth in order to protect its fragile contents.

Officials cautioned that the charges that should have opened the parachutes could still be live.

The crash could be a major setback for the six year, $260 million Genesis mission, which was launched in August 2001.

It is the first NASA mission to collect material beyond the Moon and the first to return a sample from space since the final Apollo lunar mission in 1972.

The Genesis spacecraft traveled nearly one million miles to an area in space between Earth and the Sun where the gravity of the two bodies is balanced.

Genesis spent more than two years in this area, collecting solar wind particles within hexagonal wafers of pure silicon, gold, sapphire and diamond.

The particles weigh little more than a few grains of salt, but could pack a major scientific punch.

Although scientists know the Sun is mostly made up of hydrogen and helium, there are small amounts of some 60 other elements as well.

The solar wind particles collected by Genesis should allow them to determine the exact composition of the Sun and may cast light on the makeup of the solar system some 4.5 billion years ago – prior to the formation of the Sun or the planets.

This artist's image shows how the Genesis capsule pickup was supposed to have occurred. (Image courtesy NASA)

Until the container is transported to a clean room at the Michael Army Air Field in Utah or to Johnson Space Center in Houston, officials said they will not know the condition of the solar particles.

“Clearly we are going to do all we can to recover science from the capsule,” Jones said. “But it obviously was not designed to withstand this kind of impact."

The science canister from the Genesis mission was moved into the cleanroom at the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground in Utah early Wednesday evening. The Genesis team will begin examining the contents of the canister on Thursday morning.

NASA officials said they would review trajectory and other data to determine what may have led to the parachute failure.

The agency has declared a spacecraft contingency, which calls for the establishment of a mishap review board within 72 hours.

After dropping the sample return capsule, the main Genesis spacecraft was rerouted to a long term orbit around the Sun.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California manages the Genesis mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operated the spacecraft.