At the risk of sounding like a smart aleck, I think the answer is
yes . . . or perhaps more accurately, it depends. It probably
depends on the angle at which the reentry had been attempted, vechicle
velocity, and the weight of the vehicle, which increased as more and
more samples were brought back. I suspect that it would be a funny-
shaped earth orbit, but maybe someone more proficient at orbital
mechanics can tell us for sure.


I can picture it losing enough velocity that it travels outbound from
the Earth to a very high altitude, stops, and then falls straight into
the atmosphere and burns up.

Pat
I hate the word "skip". Makes it sound like the atmosphere gives it
some sort of push back up. In fact, of course, the atmosphere just
slows it down, and if not enough, then the ship's speed is enough to
allow it to increase it's distance from the earth. I presume it would
go into some highly eccentric orbit, and re-enter the atmosphere
perhaps the next few passes, depending on how far outside the re entry
window they were.