Adron Tool Corp. Contributes to NASA Mission

Menomonee Falls, WI - January 1, 2001 - What is the sun made of? Are the Earth and planets made of the same stuff? NASA's Genesis mission will send a spacecraft to collect pieces of the sun, called solar wind, which may contain the answers. After a mid-2001 launch, the Genesis spacecraft will journey to a point a million miles toward the sun, unfold its collectors and "sunbathe" for two years, before returning to Earth with a large reservoir of solar material. Scientists will study the solar wind samples for years to come. This NASA Discovery 5 Mission: Genesis is managed by The Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Key to the collection process are the wire EDMed grid patterns that will house the collector arrays. Adron won the contract to cut these complex, 28-in.-diameter grids, each of which is composed of small triangular spaces with 0.020 in. thick walls. Adron has the largest wire EDM machine in the United States, with a cutting capacity of 32 in. x 40 in. x 18 in. in one set-up. The ability to cut the grids in one set-up provided faster turnaround while holding the exact tolerance requirements of the Genesis mission.

In addition to the stationary sample collection array inside the science canister lid, the Genesis collection system includes a stack of four mobile arrays. These frameworks of hexagonal silicon wafers initially rotate out as a single unit. Thus the stationary array and the top mobile array will collect solar wind samples as long as the canister is open. The three lower mobile arrays have separate controls allowing them to be uncovered only during specific portions of the flow of solar wind. In this photo, the second array has been rotated back so that it is now exposed. (Photograph courtesy of JPL.)

For more information, contact:
Dave Carlson
Adron Tool Corp.
1-800-346-9004
dcarlson@adronedm.com