Astronomy Picture of the Day - Flying Saucer Crash Lands in Utah Desert

NASA ^ | 19 Jul, 2026 | Image Credit: USAF 388th Range Sqd., Genesis Mission, NASA

[MtnClimber]

Explanation: A flying saucer from outer space crash-landed in the Utah desert after being tracked by radar and chased by helicopters. The year was 2004, and no space aliens were involved. The saucer, pictured here, was the Genesis sample return capsule, part of a human-made robot Genesis spaceship launched in 2001 by NASA itself to study the Sun. The unexpectedly hard landing at over 300 kilometers per hour occurred because the parachutes did not open as planned. The Genesis mission had been orbiting the Sun collecting solar wind particles that are usually deflected away by Earth's magnetic field. Despite the crash landing, many return samples remained in good enough condition to analyze. Genesis-related discoveries included new details about the composition of the Sun and how the abundance of some types of elements differ across the Solar System. These results have provided intriguing clues into details of how the Sun and planets formed billions of years ago.

[MtnClimber]

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[MtnClimber]

[MtnClimber]

Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

[Nateman]

I remember the event. It still had useful data after that.

[Zathras]

Returning to pickup Harry Reid and Hillary Clinton to their home world.

[BradyLS]

It space-planted.

[null and void]

👍

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

many return samples remained in good enough condition to analyze.

Any landing that samples can walk away from is a good landing.

[MtnClimber]

Any landing that samples can walk away from is a good landing.

That is what the survivors always say.

[No name given]

Quite literally.

[No name given]

True.

[No name given]

True.

[bosco24]

I remember that.

They had installed the parachute system g-sensors upside down so, of course, the parachute could not work.

[Deaf and Discerning]

From Star Trek Next Generation:

[telescope115]

I remember that. It’s a miracle that all of the samples weren’t contaminated.

I gatta admit that the headline grabbed my attention, lol.

[MikelTackNailer]

"Whew...rough landing."

"Water please."