NASA Launches Genesis Spacecraft

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Liftoff was scuttled five times last week by technical concerns and bad weather.

With the weather finally fine for flying, the unmanned Delta rocket climbed into a partly cloudy midday sky and started Genesis on a three-year, 20 million-mile, round-trip mission to shed light on the origin of the solar system.

A concern arose late in the countdown over parts in Genesis that are common to the Mars Odyssey spacecraft en route to the red planet. But managers quickly resolved the issue and cleared Genesis for launch.

``I'm excited, but the real excitement comes in September 2004 for us,' said California Institute of Technology geochemistry professor Don Burnett, the lead scientist.

That's when the solar samples will fly back in a capsule, dropping by parachute and then parafoil over the Utah desert with a helicopter making a dramatic midair catch.

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