Before the spacecraft returned to Earth in September, the Genesis mission had a preliminary assessment plan in place for the purpose of providing information on the condition and availability of collector materials to the science community as a basis for allocation requests. One important component of that plan was the evaluation of collector surfaces for molecular contamination. Sources of molecular contamination might be the on-orbit outgassing of spacecraft and science canister components, the condensation of thruster by-products during spacecraft maneuvers, or the condensation of volatile species associated with reentry. Although the non-nominal return of the Genesis spacecraft introduced particulate contamination to the collectors, such as dust and heatshield carbon-carbon, it is unlikely to have caused any molecular deposition. The contingency teams quick action in returning the damaged payload the UTTR cleanroom by 6 PM the evening of recovery help to ensure that exposure to weather conditions and the environment were kept to a minimum.


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    Title :

    Analysis of Molecular Contamination on Genesis Collectors through Spectroscopic Ellipsometry


    Contributors:

    Publication date :

    2005


    Size :

    6 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English





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