Several commenters have described the footage as “one of the coolest space videos” they’ve seen. Equipped with a special heat shield to prevent it from burning up, W-1 achieved speeds of greater than 20,000 mph before landing at the Utah Test and Training Range on Feb. 21.
What does it look like to enter Earth’s atmosphere as a space capsule?
Answer: Very cool.
We now know what entering Earth’s atmosphere looks like from the point of view of a space capsule. Varda Space Industries’ W-1 capsule recently captured footage of its descent to delight the masses.
Several commenters have described the footage as “one of the coolest space videos” they’ve seen. Equipped with a special heat shield to prevent it from burning up, W-1 achieved speeds of greater than 20,000 mph before landing at the Utah Test and Training Range on Feb. 21.
The 35-inch capsule was part of a Rocket Lab Photon spacecraft that launched in June 2023. It was carrying crystals of an antiviral drug cultivated in space as part of Varda’s efforts to one day become a leader in manufacturing off of Earth. “Processing materials in microgravity, or the near-weightless conditions found in space, offers a unique environment not available through terrestrial processing,” the company says on its website.
Several commenters have described the footage as “one of the coolest space videos” they’ve seen. Equipped with a special heat shield to prevent it from burning up, W-1 achieved speeds of greater than 20,000 mph before landing at the Utah Test and Training Range on Feb. 21.
