Apr. 24 & 25
NASA's Genesis sample-return mission collected solar-wind samples outside of Earth's magnetosphere and returned them to Earth for analysis. Isotopic and elemental relative abundances of the solar wind will provide a cornerstone data set for theories on how, starting some 4.6 billion years ago, the solar nebula transformed into the present solar system. Built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems and managed by JPL, Genesis was launched from Kennedy Space Center in August 2001. It was then placed into a halo orbit around the L1 Lagrange point, where for 886 days it passively collected solar-wind samples that buried themselves in specially created materials. After the collection period the spacecraft closed itself up and, in rather dramatic fashion, returned samples to Earth on September 8, 2004.
Speaker: |
Dr. Don Burnett |
Location: |
Thursday, April 24, 2008, 7p.m. The von Kármán Auditorium at JPL |
Webcast: |
Archived webcast
with captions |
JPL & The Beginnings of the Space Age
Jan. 24 & 25
The premier of a new historical video produced by JPL Office of Communications and Education Division Manager, Blaine Baggett.
Where in the World Will Our Energy Come From?
Feb. 28 & 29
What would it take to get the world to rely on renewable energy sources and get away from the damaging effects of fossil fuels?
Enceladus: The Newest Wrinkle from Saturn's Tiger-Striped Moon
Mar. 20 & 21
The Cassini spacecraft reveals a dynamic world of icy jets and towering plumes on Saturn's Moon Enceladus.
The Importance of Sample Return
Apr. 24 & 25
The Genesis Mission collected solar-wind samples outside of the Earth's Magnetosphere and returned them to Earth for Analysis.
Landing a Backhoe on Mars
May. 15 & 16
The Phoenix Lander will study the history of water and search for complex organic molecules in the ice-rich soil of the martian arctic.
The Heliospheric Magnetic Field, the Solar Wind & the Interstellar Medium
Jun. 19 & 20
The interaction of the heliospheric magnetic field, the solar wind and the interstellar medium are vitally important.
Cassini Mission to Saturn Highlights
Jul. 24 & 25
Near the completion of its four-year primary mission, the Cassini Spacecraft has revealed Saturn and its dynamic moons in unprecedented ways.
Keeping an Eye on Earth's Changing Climate: The Ocean Surface Topography Mission
Aug. 21 & 22
Measuring global sea level changes continually chronicles how Earth's climate fluctuates and changes over time.
The Great Southern California Shake Out
Sep. 25 & 26
California's future includes preparation for a great earthquake that could hit southern California on the southern San Andreas Fault.
New Wheels on Mars: The Mars Science Laboratory
Oct. 16 & 17
NASA's next rover mission to Mars will be twice as long and five times as heavy as the Mars Exploration Rovers.
New Worlds: Exoplanet Discoveries from the Spitzer Space Telescope
Nov. 13 & 14
Infrared Astronomy is responsible for some of the most revealing and interesting views of the Universe to date.
The Mystery of Dark Energy
Dec. 11 & 12
Evidence that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating points to "Dark Energy" as the cause of this rapid expansion.
