Helicopter Pilots Will Try to Snag Space Probe

NY Times ^ | September 7, 2004 | KENNETH CHANG

[neverdem]

ping

[mnehring]

I hope those stunt pilots are ex- military or that billion dollar probe will be probing the dirt in a million pieces.

[farmfriend]

Too cool!

[Southack]

It's pretty amazing to contemplate a mid-air interception of celestial matter, moreso that only the U.S. has brought back to Earth matter from celestial objects (with perhaps one exception being the Soviet Union's effort to bring back a small amount of Moon dust).

Next year we will have brought back matter from a comet, too.

Moon, Sun, and comet studies can all be performed firsthand here on Earth with actual matter from each thanks to U.S. efforts.

4 Full Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires

[Orbiter]

I hope what NASA doesn't end up with is solar dust mixed with bits of main rotor carbon fiber, aircraft aluminum, and hambuger.

[Joe Hadenuf]

I hope those stunt pilots are ex- military or that billion dollar probe will be probing the dirt in a million pieces.

Ah...I think that's debatable.

*********************************

August 28, 2004

SanDiego

A $40 million F/A-18C Hornet jet that crashed into San Diego Bay while landing at the U.S. Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado was hauled out of the water Friday night, an official said.

Upon landing, the pilot was unable to stop the jet, and it rolled past the end of the runway and into the bay. Lt. Jason Doyle Walker ejected safely, and San Diego Harbor Police pulled him from the water uninjured about 20 minutes later.

[Rebelbase]

Failure to make the catch and the capsule breaking open upon impact and loosing space particles into the air has the potentail to be a SciFi movie plot.

[Iam1ru1-2]

Hey, why don't they just use the orbiting "Stargate" that's located near the North Pole? Oh, wait a minute, that would make it land in Atlantis, in a distant galaxy far, far away. Scratch that.

[ken5050]

I hope they have a live camera shot from the chase copter..

[skinkinthegrass]

"catch a shining/falling star" PING

[Lokibob]

Pilots have been doing mid air catches since the 70's, and this is only different because NASA is using helicopters.

UTTR (Utah Test and Training Range) has been practicing for this a couple of years now, and is ready.

Weather here is pristene (I live 40 miles from UTTR.

My only regret is that I'm not involved, I retired from UTTR 4 years ago.

[cynwoody]

This is how they used to retrieve spy satellite pictures back in the days before electronic imaging got good enough to make it unnecessary. The satellites would snap photos on old-fashioned film that was contained in capsules that would be deorbited and snagged as they parachuted down.

Operations began in 1960 with the Corona program.

[Rocky]

"The composition of the solar nebula is frozen for us in the surface layers of the Sun"

Somehow "frozen" just doesn't seem like an appropriate word here.

[Bones75]

I'm looking forward to the Stardust mission's capsule return. that should be interesting.

Solar particles. well I s'pose thats pretty cool too.

Seems like it would be mostly helium and hydrogen ions with some heavier elements mixed in...

bones

[asgardshill]

I hope Fox picks this up - would be cool to watch.

[xm177e2]

Failure to make the catch and the capsule breaking open upon impact and loosing space particles into the air has the potentail to be a SciFi movie plot.

I think you mean a "SciFi CHANNEL movie plot" because it sounds really lame.

[neverdem]

Thanks for the pic and link.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Isn't this how the plague that wiped out cats and dogs in Planet of the Apes came to Earth?

[supercat]

Isn't this how the plague that wiped out cats and dogs in Planet of the Apes came to Earth?

What about The Andromeda Strain?