Posted by
CmdrTaco
on from the thats-just-bizarre dept.
cbull writes "USA Today has an article about practice for the attempts to capture the Genesis capsule. Helicopter stunt pilots will have 5 chances to capture the 400-lb. capsule. Military pilots were unavailable, due to the 6-year commitment required."
Some kind of Genesis device? KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!
-- "Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
Hmm... sounds tricky
by
petra13
·
· Score: 5, Funny
The stunt pilots say their biggest challenge will be flying at 40 mph nearly a mile over the Utah desert without any visual reference points to judge distance or speed as they close in with hook and cable on the capsule, which will be descending 400 feet a minute at a forward speed of 20 mph.
So will the capsule get bonus points if it takes out one of the helicopters without the pilots seeing it first?
Re:Hmm... sounds tricky
by
MikeMacK
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· Score: 5, Funny
Because of that, the pilots rate the difficulty of the maneuver at an 8 or 9 on a scale to 10.
So, what the hell rates a 10?
Re:Hmm... sounds tricky
by
sigxcpu
·
· Score: 4, Funny
trying to do it while being shot at.
-- As of Postgres v6.2, time travel is no longer supported.
Re:Hmm... sounds tricky
by
erick99
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· Score: 5, Funny
I don't know about bonus points but I wouldn't want the pressure of trying to catch this thing while half the world watches:
The civilian pilots have replicated the retrieval without fumbles in dozens of practice runs, but are terrified of flubbing it live on NASA television with a worldwide feed.
Hell, I'll be watching! How often do you get to see a helicopter try to catch space puke?
Cheers,
Erick
-- http://www.busyweather.com/
I've got the training!
by
twenty-exty-six
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· Score: 5, Funny
Where do I sign up. I've spent months working on an intense helicopter simulator, fine-tuning my skills to perfection.
Re:Bigger Parachute
by
exi1ed0ne
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· Score: 4, Informative
"If the Genesis capsule hits the ground hard, scientists say they'd have to spend months sorting through broken jewelry-studded disks holding tiny solar wind particles."
Reading is fundamental
-- Pessimists.net - as if life wasn't depressing enough.
Re:Bigger Parachute
by
vandoravp
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· Score: 5, Informative
Another article in some other paper (sorry no link) said that they did not want to risk any kind of touch down since it was carrying actual samples. Any significant shock could damage the sample container which would lead to either a loss of particles or contamination-not good either way. They're just playing it safe and doing away with that kind of landing all together. Besides, it's damn cool.
Re:Bigger Parachute
by
betelgeuse-4
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· Score: 4, Informative
Why did the pilots have to commit for 6 years? Does it seriously take that long to learn how to catch a falling space probe with a hook dangling from a chopper?
Amateurs.
Re:6 year commitment?
by
jon787
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· Score: 5, Informative
Actually I sent these people some email after hearing a claim of this being a first (which isn't true, project Corona did mid-air recovery of returning space capsules) and they have a few people who did this during project Corona.
-- X(7): A program for managing terminal windows. See also screen(1).
Re:Seems like a hard way of doing things...
by
YrWrstNtmr
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· Score: 4, Interesting
Possibly a case of a larger chute, while allowing a slower fall, subjects it to greater variation in landing areas due to whatever winds are happening as it comes down.
A larger chute also mean less payload.
Everything is a tradeoff.
Re:Bad joke thread
by
rjstanford
·
· Score: 4, Funny
Please don't overdo your bad jokes about the following topics
But the massive overuse of sad Star Trek lines is perfectly acceptable to you? Odd choice there...
-- You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
Re:Why a helicopter?
by
YrWrstNtmr
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
The difference in cost between a couple hours flight for a C-130 or a helicopter isn't even a blip on NASA's budget. And I'm not sure operating a C-130 is actually cheaper per hour than a helicopter.
This is literally a once in a lifetime chance. Why risk it trying to shave a couple of dollars?
Re:Why do they need to put this?
by
VanillaCoke420
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· Score: 4, Insightful
It's amazing, isn't it? Science is science, and whether or not religion agrees with its findings have absolute zero relevance.
Re:Bigger Parachute
by
dspacemonkey
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· Score: 4, Informative
Catching it as it falls from orbit is a tried and tested technique too.
It was used to catch film from spy satellites back in the days when they still used wet film.
Theres a description of the first satellites to use it (Corona) here,
and the google cache for good measure.
So catching payloads in mid air has a longer history and more successful reoveries than a couple of mars landers. They did use military pilots though;o)
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Some kind of Genesis device? KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
So will the capsule get bonus points if it takes out one of the helicopters without the pilots seeing it first?
Where do I sign up. I've spent months working on an intense helicopter simulator, fine-tuning my skills to perfection.
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"If the Genesis capsule hits the ground hard, scientists say they'd have to spend months sorting through broken jewelry-studded disks holding tiny solar wind particles."
Reading is fundamental
Pessimists.net - as if life wasn't depressing enough.
Another article in some other paper (sorry no link) said that they did not want to risk any kind of touch down since it was carrying actual samples. Any significant shock could damage the sample container which would lead to either a loss of particles or contamination-not good either way. They're just playing it safe and doing away with that kind of landing all together. Besides, it's damn cool.
"If the capsule were to descend all the way to the ground, [the wafers used to trap the particles] might fracture or break away from their mountings; hence, the midair retrieval by helicopter ..."
Decode these
Why did the pilots have to commit for 6 years? Does it seriously take that long to learn how to catch a falling space probe with a hook dangling from a chopper?
Amateurs.
A larger chute also mean less payload.
Everything is a tradeoff.
Please don't overdo your bad jokes about the following topics
But the massive overuse of sad Star Trek lines is perfectly acceptable to you? Odd choice there...
You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
This is literally a once in a lifetime chance. Why risk it trying to shave a couple of dollars?
It's amazing, isn't it? Science is science, and whether or not religion agrees with its findings have absolute zero relevance.
Catching it as it falls from orbit is a tried and tested technique too.
;o)
It was used to catch film from spy satellites back in the days when they still used wet film. Theres a description of the first satellites to use it (Corona) here, and the google cache for good measure.
So catching payloads in mid air has a longer history and more successful reoveries than a couple of mars landers. They did use military pilots though
Ah, USA today, how I love you for your technical prowness...
Together, the charged atoms captured on the capsule's disks of gold, sapphire, diamond and silicone are no bigger than a few grains of salt
Atomic element or polymer, it's probably close enough. But Spaceflightnow say's it's the element Silicon. And they've got a cool picture of the spacecraft.
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