Completed · Partial success
NASA's Genesis spacecraft collected solar-wind samples at the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrange point and returned the sample canister to Earth; despite a hard landing, samples were recovered.
- Destinations
- Launch vehicle
- Delta 7326-9.5
- Launch site
- Cape Canaveral, Fla. / SLC-17A
- Countries
- United States
- Mission types
- Heliophysics
Chronology
Mission timeline
Deployment
Sample Return Capsule released
Source spring contact lasts from 2004-09-08T11:53:07.317489Z to 2004-09-08T11:53:08.317489Z after converting TDB to UTC. The catalog retains the containing whole second.
Milestone
Sample Return Capsule entered the atmosphere
The source entry time is 15:52:47.6 UTC. Actual hypersonic entry preceded the failed parachute sequence.
EarthImpact
Sample capsule impacted Utah after parachute failure
The mishap report records 09:58:52 Mountain Daylight Time. The capsule broke open; recoverable samples were subsequently recovered. This event does not end the separate bus trajectory.
Earth
Mission architecture
Vehicles
Trajectory record
Time-dependent navigation trajectory
Source states place the model at the selected time. Reconstructed flight, estimates, predictions and historical mission plans are identified by interval; gaps remain visible.
Source records and sampling assumptions are retained with the repository data. Model attitude and surface appearance are illustrative.
- Genesis: Reconstructed · August 11, 2001 to December 31, 2010
Provenance
Sources
Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.
Data verified through October 11, 2026
- Genesis - NASA Science — NASAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Genesis Mishap Investigation Board report, Volume I — NASATechnical document · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Genesis sample return press kit, September 2004 — NASATechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- Entry, Descent and Landing Simulation for the Genesis and Stardust Missions — NASATechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- Genesis Sample Return Capsule Horizons source description — JPLTechnical document · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Genesis final reconstructed spacecraft attitude archive — NAIFTechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- Major NASA Expendable Launch Vehicle Launches — NASAArchive · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Genesis - NASA Science — NASAMission page · Supports: mission claims
- Genesis NAV reconstruction and post-2004 runout SPK — NAIFEphemeris · Supports: mission claims
- Our Sun: Facts — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context
- Planet Sizes and Locations in Our Solar System — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context