Genesis Mission Status Update 30 May 2002
The Day The Solar Wind Disappeared
Genesis continues to collect solar wind samples. The solar wind exhibited some unique behavior over the last week, including a "day when the solar wind disappeared."
The spacecraft detected extremely low densities (one particle in ten cubic centimeters or less than one particle in a cubic inch), extremely high wind speeds (approaching 1000 kilometers per second, or over 2,000,000 miles per hour), and multiple coronal mass ejections.
The onboard WIND algorithm was stumped by this rare behavior, so it positioned the collector arrays to a conservative configuration and set the concentrator high voltages to zero until conditions became more normal. More recently, WIND has detected a more normal coronal mass ejection regime and the arrays and concentrator have responded as intended.
We continue to have indications that last week's station-keeping maneuver was very accurate and maybe the best yet.
Calendar
- 20 Jun: NASA Applied Sciences Advisory Committee Meeting
- 23 Jun: Gordon Conference on Origins of Solar Systems
- 23 Jun: 2013 Space Cryogenics Workshop
- 24 Jun: Crossing the boundaries in Planetary Atmospheres from Earth to Exoplanets
- 25 Jun: Summer Course: Molecules in Space
- 25 Jun: Simulation and Software Technology II Virtual Industry Day Synopsis
- 25 Jun: Virtual Workshop: The Impact of Sex and Gender on Adaptation to Space
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