3 chances to get genesis capsule!!!!!!!!!

"Tim Auton" wrote in message
...
"simon.coombs3" wrote:
I see NASA has lined up three helicopters to try to catch the capsule
from
genesis.
as it drops to Earth, will the capsule survive if the helicopter teams
fail
and it hits the Earth?
"If the capsule were to descend all the way to the ground, some
[collection wafers] might fracture or break away from their mountings"
That sounds to me like it might not be totally destroyed, but they'd
really rather not risk it. It's coming down on a parafoil, so it'll
have some forward velocity. Perhaps they are concerned about it
smashing into a cliff or rock.

Have I missed something? I would have thought that the initial impact,
wherever it occur, wouldn't be a big problem. What might be a problem is if
it landed on a hillside. One would then expect the capsule to get wrapped up
in the parafoil and thence to commence bouncing down the terrain at ever
increasing, and changing, velocities. I've often wondered whether the
inflated bag landings were such a good idea. A body can build up a lot of
angular momentum in a short time on even a minor slope.
Grim