[Galemp]

You folks may have heard about a recovery op for a space probe re-entering the atmosphere today; it's been collecting various sensitive samples from the sun, and its contents are very fragile.

So NASA designed this recovery op; the probe's parachutes were to deploy, then helicopters flown by Hollywood stuntmen were going to pluck it gently out of the air and return it to earth slowly and carefully to avoid any damage to the precious cargo.

Five minutes ago the probe's parachutes failed to deploy and it slammed into the ground at over 100 miles per hour, and is now buried in a 3 foot deep crater.

Score another one for NASA. I wonder how the Mars program's going...

More info:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/webcast/genesis/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3638926.stm

[Carl]

...hollywood stunt pilots?

[Rampage]

Hmm - I wonder what's going to happen to the Titan probe (is it Hyugens?)

[Galemp]

Yeah. They have experience in this sort of thing.

I just love seeing a big publicity stunt on international live television turn into a massive f***-up, and watch the commentators stutter and stumble for words. There's nothing like watching a 264 million dollar piece of equipment slam into the earth at about 3000 feet per second. I love NASA.

[Gloriano]

Originally posted by Carl
...hollywood stunt pilots?

They are crazy enough do that ? maybe

[Ghostavo]

I hope that they can still recover something from the ship...

[Rictor]

I don't think he meant that literally, though I wouldn't be surprised if it were true, everything is getting Hollywoodized these days.

Oh well, another few billion down the drain, I'm sure all the starving kids are happy.

[Galemp]

No, they were literally stuntmen from Hollywood, hired by NASA to catch this thing.

[Rictor]

my God, stupidty knows no bounds. Have we as a society reached the point when even science has to be spectacular and entertaining in order to sustain people's attention?

Run for the hills, nothing is sacred anymore.

[Ghostavo]

They were hired because they were the only ones with the necessary flight skills... I don't see it as stupidty... it's the parachutes' fault not the pilot's...

[Rictor]

Wouldn't military pilots be better skilled for something like this?

Anyways, I realize that it was the parachute, or lack thereof, that caused the crash, I'm just lamenting the "made for TV" turn that our society has taken.

[Ghostavo]

Military heli pilots don't have better skills at doing something of this magnitude, stunt pilots are used to doing things with helicopters that other pilots would even dream of...

[Galemp]

OK, press conference at 2:00 PM EST, that's in about an hour, 7 PM GMT. See you there...

[Windrunner]

The best minds in the world work for NASA, and that they coldn't save the probe is just embaresing.

[karajorma]

I think this was just the universe generating a karmic return for those at NASA who laughed at Beagle 2

Seriously though it's a real shame.

[Mongoose]

Damn...this thing could have had huge potential for astronomical research .

[Taristin]

Well, there's only one thing to say; "Thanks Utah! For smacking your big ass nothingness into the probe!"
 

[ionia23]

Originally posted by Rictor
I don't think he meant that literally, though I wouldn't be surprised if it were true, everything is getting Hollywoodized these days.

Oh well, another few billion down the drain, I'm sure all the starving kids are happy.

How did I know you'd find some political angle to this thing....

(edit: qualifier removed)

[Vaelinx]

Why can't we all switch to one measurement system?  I mean... damn...  I'm not going to say that was the problem this time, but damn...

Also, their recovery method seemed way complex.  They got of things right, it's true...  but there were too many things to go wrong, I wonder why they felt the need to grab it mid-air?  But then again, who knows...  Maybe someday this will happen to one of my projects.  But with me it would be more like Hubble, which was thankfully repairable.

And it's true that some of the best minds work at NASA...  but they aren't all "best minds."  NASA doesn't pay well enough. Mostly because of the lack of funding and public interest someone was mentioning earlier.

Lets hope that everything is not a loss...  it's always a shame to see this happen because you know many people have been spending many years just on that spacecraft.

[Cyker]

I'm just curious as to how it was only travelling at 100mph when it hit!
I mean, this thing fell from the upper atmosphere with not even a drogue 'chute to slow it down - I would have expected it to hit the ground a lot harder!
Some luck I guess

Hehe, the irony is that they used the stunt pilots because they were worried a normal parachute landing (Which would still have quite rough ) might damage the delicate particle containers, so they spend all this time planning some convoluted intercept mission and forget about the simple stuff

NASA of all people should look to ths KISS principle!