Five years ago today — September 8, 2004 — NASA’s Genesis sample return capsule crash-landed in the Utah desert. The spacecraft was returning with samples collected from the solar wind, but its drogue parachute failed as it descended. It hit the ground traveling 311 km/hr.
(Genesis sample container crash site. Click to enlarge. USAF photo from NASA web page.)
The damaged container was taken into a clean room as soon as possible so NASA scientists could analyze the sample fragments. This page explains how some of the Genesis findings solved a mystery about the isotopic composition of lunar rocks brought back by the Apollo missions.
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