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Published online 18 October 2007 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2007.175
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Crashed spacecraft yields data
Scientists pick out solar-wind samples from the pieces of the Genesis mission.
An ill-fated spacecraft that unintentionally crashed into the deserts of Utah in 2004 is yielding results to the scientists who carefully picked up the pieces.
Researchers have been able to salvage usable material from the Genesis mission, whose aim was to collect samples from the solar wind and bring them safely back to Earth.
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Since our atmosphere is roughly 78% nitrogen, I wonder if the solar wind could also be the source for nitrogen on this planet. It is assumed that early volcanoes released nitrogen into our atmosphere, but perhaps there is a different explanation? It was an interesting read.