Stunt pilot attempts space capsule catch

[United Press International]

PASADENA, Calif., May 6 (UPI) -- A team of U.S. stunt pilots
plans to catch a falling space capsule next fall that contains
samples collected from the solar wind.
Before the capsule hits the dirt, the stunt pilots will
snatch it from the sky using an 18-foot pole and hook suspended
below their helicopters, BBC News reported Thursday.
The capsule attempted to collect each kind of solar wind --
fast, slow and coronal mass ejection -- via exposed ceramic tiles
contained on its carrier satellite, but a hard impact when it
returns to Earth could shatter the fragile tiles and mix up the
samples.
The catch is supposed to occur at an altitude of 7,000 feet,
said mission scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. On of
the helicopters will lower its boom and move in for capture. The
pole will scrape over the top of the capsule's parachute, collapsing
and snagging it and the capsule.