Current plans call for using a Delta II 7326 expendable launch system to inject the Genesis spacecraft into its low energy trajectory to the L1 point during the launch opportunity beginning in June 2001. Depending on the actual launch date in 2001, the Genesis spacecraft would return to Earth in June 2004 or sometime thereafter. Following mid-air retrieval, the SRC would be removed to a staging area at UTTR where it would be prepared for transport to the planetary materials curatorial facility at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. In the unlikely event of bad weather on a second entry opportunity, the mid-air retrieval would not be possible, so the SRC would descend to the surface on a parafoil. The SRC and canister are designed to stay intact in the event of a parafoil landing.
Most chemical elements consist of more than one isotope.
However, at the required level of precision, the isotopic composition of solar matter is not available for comparison. Genesis could provide the data to fill this gap. The solar data are of major importance to planetary science because the outer regions of the Sun preserve the average composition of the solar nebula from which all planets in the solar system formed. A remarkable feature of the solar system is the great diversity of planetary objects. However, this diversity was produced from a solar nebula, which is widely accepted to have been homogeneous in chemical composition.