Cosmic Material for NASA

[125gJoe]

Link: Genesis Data

 

[Dangerdoll]

I saw this over the weekend and thought of you Joe..... very interesting indeed!

 

[Fishsmurf]

Was this the capsule they were going to try and catch with the helicoptors once the main chute had deployed?

 

[Dangerdoll]

not sure but I remember something about it was supposed to have landed smoothly but plummeted because the chute failed to open.... something like that....

 

[Vmax]

Yeah, there were a couple of stunt helicopter pilots staged to snag the parachute of the capsule. The idea was that the parachute would slow the module down, and a helicopter would then snag it to give it an even softer landing, since NASA was worried that the impact of hitting the ground with the parachute open may have even be too harsh. Who would have figured that after the ~200mph impact it may still be salvageable.

 

[Dangerdoll]

oh that's right! the helicopters were going to catch it in mid-air........

yeah, they were all pretty surprised at the good shape of it after the fall.