September 16, 2004 Genesis team scientists and engineers
continue their work on the mission's sample return canister in a
specially constructed clean room at the U.S. Army Proving Ground
in Dugway, Utah. As more of the capsule's contents are revealed,
the team's level of enthusiasm for the amount of science
obtainable continues to rise. At present, the science canister
that holds the majority of the mission's scientific samples is
lying upside down - on its lid. Scientists are very methodically
working their way "up" from the bottom portion of the canister
by trimming away small portions of the canister's wall. The team
continues to extract, from the interior of the science canister,
small but potentially analyzable fragments of collector array
material. One-half of a sapphire wafer was collected Tuesday -
the biggest piece of collector array to date. The mission's main
priority is to measure oxygen isotopes to determine which of
several theories is correct regarding the role of oxygen in the
formation of the