Mission Ends in Disaster: Space Capsule Slams into Earth
08 September 2004: DUGWAY PROVING GROUND, UTAH -- A NASA spacecraft spun out of control and crashed into the Utah desert this morning, putting a disastrous end to a years-long mission to bring back samples of the Sun.

Follow-up Coverage:

Lots of Science Intact in Smashed-Up Genesis Capsule
10 September 2004: Scientists and engineers are optimistic after having peeked inside the Genesis space capsule.

Genesis Capsule a 'Mangled Mess'
09 September 2004: TOOELE, UTAH -- It’s not the kind of “breaking news” that NASA wanted. Yesterday’s crash of the Genesis sample return canister forced scientists to look for slivers of hope in the busted up remains of fragile collection arrays.

Bad Battery May Have Doomed Genesis
08 September 2004: DUGWAY PROVING GROUND, UTAH -- There could also be other reasons why the parachute setup did not deploy, officials said today.

Coverage prior to the crash:

After three years in space, NASA's Genesis space probe returns to Earth today, bringing little bits of the Sun back for scientists to study. But there's a catch. A big catch.

The Genesis sample return capsule, a shielded clutch of collectors laden with particles of solar wind, is expected to pierce the Earth's atmosphere above Oregon at about 12:00 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT) Wednesday.

It should then streak across northwest United States until it reaches the skies above the Utah Test and Training Range and deploys a parachute, where Hollywood stunt pilots plan to snatch the drifting capsule out of the sky with helicopters and hooks.

Genesis' sample return capsule is the first spacecraft to deliver space samples to Earth for NASA since Apollo 17 mission unloaded its last Moon rock in 1972.

Genesis launched in 2001 and spent most of its time at a gravitationally stable Lagrange point between the Earth and Sun with its collectors facing the Sun.

Researchers hope their studies of the micrograms of solar material will offer clues to the origin of the Sun, the solar system and its occupants -- the planets, moons and people.

Genesis News

Genesis Crew Set for Today's Sky-High Capture
From the scene, SPACE.com reports on the final preparations.

Genesis Hits the Mark For Utah Reentry Wednesday History
NASA’s Genesis spacecraft performed a critical trajectory maneuver Sept. 6, putting it on a precise course for plunging into Earth’s atmosphere and fireballing its way toward the Air Force's Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR), southwest of Salt Lake City.

NASA Researchers, Stunt Pilots Prepare for Genesis Probe's Return
A team of NASA scientists, navigators and helicopter stunt pilots is ready to snatch a space sample canister out of the sky next month when the Genesis spacecraft returns to Earth.

Genesis Spacecraft Sets Course for Home
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- NASA's Genesis spacecraft successfully adjusted its course this week as it heads back toward Earth with a sample of solar wind particles, the space agency said Wednesday.

Keeping Alien Samples Safe For Study
It's human nature to clean for company more thoroughly than one would for oneself, but nowhere is this truth taken to greater extremes than at the Johnson Space Center.

The Genesis Begins Primary Science Mission
NASA's Genesis spacecraft will begin its primary science mission of collecting particles from the solar wind when it begins to orbit a point between the Sun and Earth on Friday, Nov. 16.

The Genesis Begins Primary Science Mission
NASA's Genesis spacecraft will begin its primary science mission of collecting particles from the solar wind when it begins to orbit a point between the Sun and Earth on Friday, Nov. 16.

Genesis Mission Battery Will Survive Despite Glitch
El Segundo, Calif. -- A faulty radiator that caused a battery to overheat on NASA’s Genesis spacecraft will not affect its mission to gather solar particles, a spokesman at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said Nov. 8.

Genesis Probe's Battery May Run Too Hot
CAPE CANAVERAL - A recently launched spacecraft might have a "mission-ending" problem. The Genesis probe, which lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in August, has a battery that might overheat.

Genesis On its Way to Pick Up a Piece of the Sun
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- An ambitious three-year mission to catch a piece of the sun and safely return that sample to Earth was successfully hurled on its way into deep space Wednesday atop a Delta 2 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral.

The Genesis Project: Catching the Solar Wind
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A robotic NASA explorer is poised to set sail Monday, July 30 on a mission to catch the solar wind and then return to Earth with a representative sampling of the primordial stuff that seeded the solar system.

Seeking the Solar System's Origin
DENVER - Ship and shoot toward the Sun. These could be the delivery instructions slapped on the side of the Genesis spacecraft, neatly wrapped and ready for a clean room rollout at month’s end here at Lockheed Martin Astronautics.