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Genesis Probe's Battery May Run Too Hot
By Kelly Young
FLORIDA TODAY
posted: 09:30 am ET
02 November 2001
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battery_genisis_011102 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. The battery is at its upper temperature limit, 73 degrees Fahrenheit. Mission managers think the temperature might creep up to 108 degrees before it's through. Genesis was designed to snag particles from the solar wind, the stream of material constantly emitted from the surface of the sun. It is scheduled to return those particles to Earth in a dramatic helicopter capture in 2004. The battery affects the capsule's re-entry into the atmosphere. If it fails, scientists might not get their hands on solar wind particles. Managers closed the probe's lid nearly all the way on Sept. 17 to cool down the capsule. They believe the thermal blanket above the capsule's battery, designed to keep it cool, could be breaking down, due to paint contamination when the sun's ultraviolet light interacted with it, affecting the blanket's ability regulate temperature. A task force is working with a model of the battery on the ground to find out when, if ever, the lithium battery will fail. In the meantime, managers will continue with the mission. "We'll proceed (with the science mission) as if everything is OK," project manager Chet Sasaki said. Genesis will start to enter its orbit Nov. 13. It will orbit a place in space where Earth's and the sun's gravitational forces are balanced. All of its other systems are working normally, Sasaki reported. Published under license from FLORIDA TODAY. Copyright © 2001 FLORIDA TODAY. No portion of this material may be reproduced in any way without the written consent of FLORIDA TODAY.
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