New video recorded during the recent passage of Orion through the Earth's atmosphere, shows the conditions which in the future will test the spacecraft and its crew on his return from Mars. The video, shot from the window of Orion, was among the first data extracted from an unmanned spacecraft after its test flight on December 5 .
Although the flight Orion broadcast in real time on the channel NASA, some of the material was not shown to the viewer. At the time of the passage of ships through the dense atmosphere of his body warmed up to a temperature of more than two thousand degrees Celsius. Orion formed around the ball of hot plasma did not miss a radio signal to Earth. Nevertheless, the camera recorded everything that went overboard.
The video starts 10 minutes before splashdown in the Pacific Ocean Orion. Spaceship breaks into the Earth's atmosphere. After about two minutes after the peak occurs in the heating apparatus body by its friction with the air heat shield. As the temperature of the plasma color varies from white to yellow and red. After the fire test, the camera records the disclosure of several parachutes that slow the movement of Orion to the speed required for a safe landing.
After a successful splashdown spacecraft was brought on board a naval ship joint forces NASA, Lockheed Martin and the US Navy. On land it was loaded onto a truck and taken to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
4.5 hour flight Orion rose to a height of 5800 kilometers - higher than any other spacecraft, which can have a crew and built over the past four decades. The ability of the unit to develop high speed and strong to withstand heat allows you to use it in the future interplanetary travel.
Orion test flight was an important step on the way to Mars, NASA . The next version of the ship will be launched to the moon with the help of super-heavy carrier rocket Space Launch System (SLS).