"There was a big pit in my stomach," physicist Roger Wiens, of Los Alamos National Laboratory, which designed the atom collector plates, told the Associated Press.

"This just wasn't supposed to happen. We're going to have a lot of work picking up the pieces."

The capsule impacted with such force that it dug itself into the ground. From aerial pictures taken by chasing aircraft it is clear the pod has sustained severe damage.

Interior components that should only have been exposed in a clean-room were open to the elements.