Genesis spacecraft returns to Earth Sept. 2004 in dramatic m

[Mike]

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/genesis/mission/return.html

[Rick]

Hmmm... That's going to be an interesting game of Catch!

[Mike]

Certainly must be worthy of a prize for the most novel way of landing a spacecraft!

[Rick]

Well, The USAF used something similar to recover film from Corona spy satellites way back when. I think the pick-up aircraft was something like a C-130 rather than a chopper, but the idea was much the same. A sort-of reverse mechanism was also tested which allowed a suitably modified C-130 (or similar) to grab a stranded airman out of the sea by snagging a line suspended from a kite or balloon.