On Sept. 8, 2004, NASA will send the U.S. Air Force's Flying Infrared Signatures Technologies Aircraft (FISTA) to an altitude of 39,000 feet for a front row seat to the sample return capsule's (SRC) fiery re-entry. The aircraft will be fitted with multiple scientific instruments including ultraviolet, infrared and visible-light spectrometers, as well as high-resolution still cameras and high-definition video cameras. Researchers from NASA Ames Research Center, located in California's Silicon Valley, and the SETI Institute, Mountain View, Calif., will observe this 'artificial' meteor. Principal investigator and meteor astronomer Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute is leading the diverse and independent science team.

"Genesis will be the first of several return capsules as part of NASA's ongoing science and exploration missions," said Paul Wercinski, the Genesis observation campaign project manager at NASA Ames. "This is a unique opportunity to study the physics of re-entry up close and assess the effectiveness of thermal protection systems for re-entry vehicles. What we learn from Genesis will be useful for those future missions," he added.

Genesis, launched in August 2001, captured samples from the storehouse of 99 percent of all the material in our solar system - the sun. After they return, these samples, collected on wafers of gold, sapphire, silicone and diamond, will be analyzed by scientists. The samples will provide vital information on the composition of the sun, and shed light on the origins of our solar system.

Scientists at NASA Ames are keenly interested in the airborne observations in order to understand how the capsule's heat shield performs under these 'super-orbital speed entry' conditions. These observations may help develop the tools used to simulate re-entry conditions.

"One of our key objectives is to acquire flight data that substantiate our ability to predict the amount of thermal radiation that heats the capsule during reentry," said Dr. Dean Kontinos, chief of the NASA Ames Reacting Flow Environments Branch. "These thermal radiation models are essential for designing future exploration vehicles."

The Genesis SRC will return from interplanetary space and turn briefly into a bright meteor over Oregon and Nevada. The capsule will experience peak heating conditions as it decelerates near the Oregon/Nevada border enroute to Utah. During this heating phase of the capsule, the airborne observers will train their cameras at the 'artificial' meteor. The Genesis mission will end over the U.S. Air Force Utah Test and Training Range, where the capsule will be recovered.

The re-entry is of particular interest to meteor astronomers since the SRC is an analog to meter-sized asteroids that deposit organic material in Earth's atmosphere. The return of the Genesis capsule is like a meteor on queue, giving scientists a unique opportunity to study what happens during re-entry.

"We are interested in the physical and chemical conditions in the shockwave that can change the organic material in asteroids into pre-biotic molecules for life's origins," Jenniskens said.

Organizations participating in the Genesis SRC aerial observation campaign are: NASA Ames; the NASA Engineering and Safety Center, Hampton, Va.; the SETI Institute, Mountain View, Calif.; Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, Calif.; Lockheed Martin, Bethesda, Md.; Science Applications International Corporation, San Diego, Calif.; the Air Force Academy, USAF, Colo.; University of Alaska, Fairbanks; University of California, San Francisco; University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; University of Regina, Regina, Canada; University of Utah, Logan; the Sandia National Laboratory, Albuquerque, N.M. and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M.

FISTA is operated by the U.S. Air Force 412 Test Wing at Edwards Air Force Base, Edwards, Calif. During the decent, the aircraft will follow prescribed safety procedures and maintain a safe distance from the capsule's trajectory. FISTA is a modified KC-135 aircraft previously used as an aerial laboratory for the observation of the Leonid meteor storms.

The Genesis SRC aerial observation campaign is funded by the NASA Engineering and Safety Center, Hampton, Va., as a means to better understand the phenomena of high-speed entry of return capsules. NASA's JPL manages the Genesis mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

For more information about the Genesis SRC entry observation campaign, go to:

http://reentry.arc.nasa.gov/

For more information about the Genesis Mission, visit:

http://genesismission.jpl.nasa.gov/