Salvaging Genesis
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NASA scientists said they have recovered some critical pieces of the Genesis space capsule intact and are optimistic the wreckage will yield valuable information about the origins of the solar system.
"We should be able to meet many, if not all, of our science goals," physicist Roger C. Wiens of the Los Alamos National Laboratory said Friday.
Apparently, the individual compartments that were used to gather sample atoms from around the solar systm got fused together pretty well, but atoms are kind of hard to destroy. So it's possible that just a few of them will be sufficient to give the scientists the information they're looking for.
Here's hoping
Meanwhile, NASA continues to investigate why the parachute didn't open. While they're reviewing the matter, they should consider giving some kind of award to the design team for building a probe that can still yield results after such a traumatic crash. And the FAA ought to think about hiring these folks to help them design their next generation of black boxes.