The Genesis return capsule, which was to return particles of the Sun to Earth, has crash landed after its two parachutes failed to deploy. Two helicopter pilots who trained for 6 years to catch the capsule in mid-air, didn't get a chance to catch it as it plummeted to Earth at over 100 MPH. The capsule has been located, at least. A September 5 Wired News article quoted project scientists as saying that if the capsule crashed they would "have to spend months sorting through broken jewelry-studded disks holding the tiny solar wind particles." From this CNN image, it looks like the capsule may be mostly intact, though.
The helicopter recovery was supposed to be the most difficult part of the mission. Who would have thought the parachutes would be the point of failure? But give NASA credit for trying difficult and innovative missions. Without trying, there would be no progress.
(2004-09-08 09:35:00.0) Permalink