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NASA Wraps Up Genesis Recovery

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the data-recovery dept.

linuxwrangler writes "NASA scientists are wrapping up the recovery of the Genesis Project. Eileen Stansbery of the Johnson Space Center, said the crash, 'will make the analysis difficult but not impossible...There is nothing that is a total loss,' which is truly good news. The JPL has some nice pictures and video of the recovered bits."

20 comments

  1. Pictures... by tod_miller · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I hope they remind you how dangerous this 'space' is... I wouldn't like this to be a manned operation I was reading about.

    Lighter note, half way down the images it looks like they are making a mosiac in honour of the mission...

    Did anyone else get that feeling, when reading about the stunt helicopters, that this would happen?

    I mean, why even bother with the stunt helicopters... it was so probable that this would happen.

    --
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    1. Re:Pictures... by FinestLittleSpace · · Score: 1

      Yes, it's all a bit of a joke really. A bloody matress would have been better than endless hyppe about stunt helicopters.

    2. Re:Pictures... by klmth · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The odds for the probe actually hitting any kind of mattress are so small, that the helicopter stunt was the safer and cheaper bet.

    3. Re:Pictures... by FinestLittleSpace · · Score: 1

      Bet I could find you a shitty matress for a few tenners :-).

      The point is... BOTH the odds are small.

    4. Re:Pictures... by klmth · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Right, but at least the helicopters took several passes and had som training. Comparable odds with mattresses would involve covering an entire county with the inflatable mattresses they use for allowing people to jump on them from tall buildings.

      Normal mattresses would jsut inflict damage on the probe.

    5. Re:Pictures... by TykeClone · · Score: 3, Funny

      But if we covered the whole country with those mattresses, think of how much fun it would be to jump off buildings while waiting for the pod to land!

      --
      A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
    6. Re:Pictures... by wde · · Score: 1

      All of the stunt helicopter practice recoveries were successful. I believe the cause of impact had something to do with the unparachuted plummet...

    7. Re:Pictures... by tod_miller · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Inflatable 'air bags' was my suggestion when I heard about this.

      A couple of sports cars (trying not to get hit!) move around a zone of potential contact (they knew where it would land about)

      as it gets closer, you know more about where it will be, the airbags auto inflate [exoplosively] when the probe is within 25 meters of the ground.

      If it hits one the air is pushed out quickly, but slowly cushions its fall.

      How is a helicopter going to 'snare it' with a better chance than a stunt driver just driving to the best location and inflating a huge crash bag?

      --
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    8. Re:Pictures... by brainburger · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think the issue here is the failure of the parachute(s?).
      Either stunt helicopters or Zem the stunt mattress from Squornshellous Zeta would have been fine had the 'chutes opened.
      Neither could have been in the right place at the right moment with any degree of accuracy without...

    9. Re:Pictures... by Seahawk · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Why is it "so probable" that this would happen?

      Usually parachutes actually deploys!

    10. Re:Pictures... by Josh+Booth · · Score: 2, Informative

      Helicopters or airplanes of some sort were used to recover the film canisters from spy satellites during the cold war in exactly the same way. It's not like its never been done before. Of course, it's hard to grab onto the parachute when the parachute doesn't even deploy.

    11. Re:Pictures... by dbavirt · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The helicopter has several chances to snag a slowly falling object. The sports car only has one.

    12. Re:Pictures... by nyekulturniy · · Score: 1

      Perhaps on the next mission they will try a variant on the Mars rovers--airbags. However, with very fragile cargo, it might actually cause MORE breakage as the capsule hits, bounces, hits, bounces...

      --
      Nyekulturniy... Proudly confusing readers and editors since 1981!
    13. Re:Pictures... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why was this marked insightful?
      I hope they remind you how dangerous this 'space' is... I wouldn't like this to be a manned operation I was reading about.

      Spoken like all the other "fsck space, we need that money here on earth" idiots. Anyone who rides a manned space mission knows the risks, accepts the risks and wouldn't trade their seat to anyone else! Sheesh, with thinking like this the Americas would still be undiscovered by Europe! (I leave it to personal tastes whther that's a good thing or not)

      Did anyone else get that feeling, when reading about the stunt helicopters, that this would happen?

      Well, no! All of this was based on similar work done to recover film from spy satellites during the cold war.

      I mean, why even bother with the stunt helicopters... it was so probable that this would happen.

      and what experience do you base this observation on? Hind sight is always 20-20. If you knew this was going to happen before it did then you have one helluva career waiting for you at XXX's Psychic Network!

  2. Wow by krel · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I for one am suitably impressed that a hallow metal shell from (nearly) beyond earth orbit fell through the atmosphere and hit the ground with no parachute or means of breaking at al, yet all this cool stuff survived.

    --
    karma: ouch!
    1. Re:Wow by torpor · · Score: 1

      I just liked the fact that I turned on CNN that day, its 2004, and I saw a flying saucer-like object plummeting out of control and smash into the ground, along with a whole nation (or so)...

      Its 2004! Yay for the plummeting space saucers falling out of the sky!

      --
      ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
    2. Re:Wow by FinestLittleSpace · · Score: 1

      I'm not entirely sure that the 'scooped particles' survived really. It's not really amazing that some bits of random metal survived is it?

    3. Re:Wow by Count+Ludwig+Von+Lon · · Score: 0

      When the data that they need to retrieve are individual atoms embedded in the panels, the fact that the panels are broken into smaller pieces shouldn't matter. They'll still have the atoms in those fragments.

  3. The real question... by eviltypeguy · · Score: 1

    The real question is did anyone find spock yet?

    He's probably still wandering around somewhere in the canyons living caveman style...

  4. *!*PR*!* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    it's just a amazing job the PR deparment of nasa
    and jpl are doing! this IS the future of science
    and the internet!
    the website is awesome! i'm not american, so i'm
    not accually paying (tax) for any of these missions,
    but this is really a great example of science beyond
    country borders! other gov./public funded institutes
    should follow this very open approach! this is how
    you get to learn stuff.
    keep up the good work!