NASA's Sounding Rocket program used to use a system similar to the CORONA that you mention below. To my knowledge, it was retired due to the high risk nature of the recovery; there was at least one close call involving the chute line and a propeller.

Now the payloads that need to be recovered are just sealed to prevent saltwater contamination and fitted with flotation aids and dye markers so a recovery team can find them.

The idea is to keep it out of that nasty salt water (cold salt water + hot rocket engines is a bad combination...).

That's why they're going for a Corona style recovery.

Speaking of moving vehicles and people in the sea - the UK SBS have a rather interesting technique for divers getting picked up by a moving submarine.

The divers wait in two teams separated by a line, they notify the sub that then raises its periscope and steers between the two groups snagging the line. The divers then climb along the line to the sub.

[NB This was what they were doing ~1970 according to Paddy Ashdown]

Corona used a C-130 system as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-air_retrieval#/media/File:C...

Thinking about it, it might be a weight constraint to cause them to use a helicopter. The sudden capture of an object weighing a few thousand pounds by a plane flying 350 mph could be too dangerous.

The major difference between Corona and Fulton is that Fulton is not mid-air (and therefore involves the thing being retrieved getting a saltwater bath).

There are some pretty big helicopters out there that wouldn't blink at picking up a load like this. The Chinook is used for cargo transport quite frequently: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_CH-47_Chinook