NASA Aircraft Videos Hayabusa Re-Entry

astroengine writes "Flying above the Australian Outback, NASA's converted DC-8 jet videoed the violent re-entry of the Japanese Hayabusa spacecraft. Flying in front of the disintegrating probe, the mission's sample return capsule can be seen speeding though the atmosphere. According to reports, the capsule landed safely and will be collected by helicopter in the morning." "Bad Astronomer" Phil Plait posts about the successful return as well.

Comments

Re:So far so good

[asylumx]

Well, having redundant systems is great but it comes at a cost, too. They would have needed additional power; everything would have weighed twice as much; cost more; changed the amount of thrust necessary not only in launch but in any maneuver. You could then say "Well you should double up at least on systems that are likely to fail!" but then I'd ask... well how do you expect to know before-hand what is likely to fail? Maybe they tested the "pellet gun" a hundred times here and it worked fine?