Three years ago, NASA launched the Genesis probe into Earth orbit to collect solar particles. The plan was for it to return to Earth at about 25,000 mph, deploy its parachutes, and then be caught in midair by helicopter stunt pilots. A foolproof plan, you might think. Somehow, something managed to go wrong.

The reason for the risky plan was that This daring retrieval method will protect the samples and sensitive instruments during reentry. A crash landing, even at the capsule's relatively slow speed of 9 mph, could ruin some of the data collected during the mission. In the end, though, it landed at a less-than-gentle 194 mph. Scientists are still optimistic, saying there is still data they can get from the capsule, but I think that's mostly just making the best of what is basically a failed mission. I hope this doesn't affect NASA's already diminishing funding. But man, it had to be fun watching a 450 lb flying saucer thunk satisfyingly into the ground at 200mph.