In Brief:

Balloon in good shape after deflating dive

(CNN) -- A massive balloon designed to measure cosmic radiation was recovered in excellent condition after it fell back to Earth shortly after launch, NASA said.

NASA researchers said they could easily repair slight damage to the solar panel frame within seven or ten days and then launch the balloon on another flight, according to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.

The Ultra Long-Duration Balloon developed a leak soon after launch on February 25 and sank gradually back to where it lifted off from the Australian outback.

The helium balloon carries $1 million worth of measuring equipment and is designed to inflate slowly to the size of football field as it nears the edge of the atmosphere.

Falling 'meteorite' sizzles then fizzles

(CNN) -- After a Yorkshire woman Thursday heard a whooshing explosion and peered into a smoking hole, town authorities thought they had evidence of the first meteorite strike in Britain in a decade.

A Yorkshire museum geologist "confirmed" that the deep sizzling hole was caused by the impact of a tiny meteorite. The police closed roads and prepared to evacuate homes in the vicinity as a five-hour dig took place to unearth the outer space debris.

The scientist then pulled out scorched wire, indicating that an underground electrical fire created the crater, reported the Yorkshire Evening Press.

"Instead of a meteorite this was a meteor-wrong," he said, according to the paper.

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