Truely a shame. The AIAA chapter here at WPI was watching the whole thing live, and were shocked by how non-plussed the commentators and mission control people were during the whole thing. We didn't even realize anything had gone wrong until they showed the show of it imbedded in the ground.
NBC News had the best line about the mission: they said the probe should've been named Icarus, after the man who flew close to the sun and then crashed to earth.
By the way, am I the only one who thinks that this picture would be great for the UFO conspiracy nuts?
Click for larger image