A long-awaited piece of the Sun crash-landed in the Utah desert last Wednesday. NASA's Genesis, a robotic spacecraft, returned to Earth after a three-year journey. Its mission: to collect tiny bits of sun.
The NASA team was very worried when the two parachutes aboard the Genesis capsule failed to open. After the crash, the scientists began trying to pick up the tiny but important pieces.
Scientists used tweezers to pick through the craft's twisted metal last Thursday. They were hopeful as they worked to recover materials from Genesis's inner container.
The craft's inner capsule gathered billions of the tiny particles that flow off of the Sun. These particles, which together weigh no more than a few grains of salt, could contain clues about how the Sun formed and what has kept it burning for billions of years. The samples could also shed light on how our solar system was formed.
Genesis, which was launched in August 2001, collected the particles on five panels. The mission was a first. Never before had NASA attempted to bring space dust from beyond the Moon back to Earth.
As of last Friday, NASA reported having "a lot of excited scientists." They had found that most of the cosmic samples were in good condition. "We should be able to meet many, if not all, of our science goals," said physicist Roger C. Wiens.