Genesis McNuggets

Hey, good news!

Remember the Genesis spacecraft? It sat in space, gravitationally balanced between the Earth and the Sun, for several years, patiently catching solar stuff that would reveal the answers of the universe. It was suppose to come back to mother Earth, gently swinging on a parachute, which would be gently plucked from the sky by a Hollywood-stunt-piloted helicopter, and gently flown to a special lab to be gently examined by Top Men.

"Uh, oh, hot-dog!" Last year the thing slammed full-speed into the Utah desert like a UFO-gone-wild. If you haven't seen the video of the... uh... landing, you're missing out. And here's some photos of the fragile pieces. So much for gentle.

(We just love this shot of of a guy in a clean suit keeping the fragile collectors squeaky-clean before the mission. Poor guy.)

Anyway (back to the good news) it appears the Top Men are gonna be able to get some good science out of the shattered pieces. Seems the solar stuff is still in excellent condition. (If the answer is 42, I'm gonna be awfully suspicious.)