Sometimes you just wonder what kind of Cigarettes Rocket Scientists at NASA smoke!
Imagine....there you are in the Crew Room...Tea Cup in Hand....in walks the Chief Pilot.....who says..."Right Lad, off you go on the SS Minnow to do a mid-air catch of a Spacecraft re-entering Earth's Atmosphere!".
Helicopter to catch spacecraft slowed down by inflatable shell in NASA-funded project