From what I saw on FoxNews (so take it with a grain of salt) the wafers (containing the samples) contained onboard Genesis were extremely fragile, too fragile in fact for the jolt of a normal parachute landing. If this is the case, a ditch into the ocean even under parachute would destroy them as well. The original plan was to have 2 helicopters snag the chutes and carry Gen to a safe landing - the stunt pilots that Nasa had chartered to do this had performed the drills admirably, never missing their target. Unfortunately for Nasa, those pesky parachutes failed to deploy. I wonder who's butt is going to fry over this one?