Solar particles unleashed on Earth
September 8, 2004Uh-oh, the experiment to return solar particles to Earth has crash-landed. Presumably the capsule containing the particles did not survive the crash and so the solar bits have been released into the atmosphere.
It’s like the beginning of a bad a science-fiction film. Did the solar particles have a dangerous contagion that will now sweep the planet and kill all life? Or maybe some evil alien intelligence has now been unleashed on the planet, and only Sigourney Weaver can save us?
I’m wondering why they planned such a complicated retrieval in the first place–why not built a more rugged capsule that could land in the ocean or something? This whole parachute-captured-by-helicopter thing is so complicated and risky.
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