Jul 13 2010
Sandia National Laboratories researcher Tom Friedmann was awarded NASA’s Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal (EEAM) at a ceremony June 15 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. He received the award for the quality of the diamond-like carbon thin films he contributed to the Genesis science mission. Five other winners were all members of JPL.
The purpose of the Genesis mission was to collect the solar wind that is ejected from the outer portion of the sun, itself thought to be a kind of fossil of the original nebula that transformed into our solar system 4.5 billion years ago. The captured materials could test the validity of solar-formation models by providing hard data on the composition of the very early sun. The EEAM award acknowledges Friedmann’s contributions as critical for mission success.
“The films were selected due to their purity,” Friedmann says. “They made possible the sensitive determination of the composition of the solar wind that implanted itself in the samples during the mission.”
Because the solar wind is diffuse, the Genesis probe exposed the film samples on orbit for more than two years at the Earth-Sun Lagrangian point (the point where earth and sun’s gravity cancel each other) to obtain statistically significant implants. The satellite then folded up its collectors and returned to Earth for sample analysis.
“The re-entry was supposed to be managed by deploying a parachute and gently catching the probe with a helicopter,” Friedmann says. “Unfortunately, the parachute did not deploy due to the misorientation of an accelerometer that was supposed to be activated by the deceleration upon re-entry.”
Because the sensor was installed backward, the satellite then crashed into the Arizona desert. Although this resulted in contamination of the samples, the Genesis team was able to recover and clean most of the samples and still accomplish much of its ongoing science mission, Friedmann says.
The Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal, established in 1991, is awarded to both government and non-government individuals for unusually significant engineering contributions toward achieving NASA’s mission.
According to a NASA handout, “Accomplishments are far above others in quality, scope, and impact. Accomplishments are explicit, demonstrate results and are perceived as outstanding or significant by peers and impacted target groups.”