Scientists at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston have shipped pieces of the Genesis polished aluminum collector to researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, marking the first distribution of a Genesis scientific sample from JSC since the science canister arrived there Oct. 4, 2004. Read all about it at NASA.

While much of the solar wind is hydrogen, it is hoped that Genesis captured samples of many elements in the periodic table. An analysis of these elements will help to determine the sun's composition in detail.