After touring greater than 1.4 million miles (2.2 million kilometers) on an historic journey to the Moon and again, NASA’s Orion capsule splashed down within the Pacific Ocean on Sunday following its near-perfect take a look at flight.

This week, NASA launched a 24-minute video highlighting a number of the most enjoyable moments from the 25.5 day mission from the second the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket launched till the Orion spacecraft parachuted its means down.

SLS lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on November 16, initiating NASA’s Artemis program that plans on returning people to the Moon after greater than 50 years.

The video begins off with the explosive launch, revealing a novel rocket POV because it leaves the bottom. SLS’ two facet boosters and 4 RS-25 engines produced a whopping 8.8 million kilos of thrust at liftoff, making it essentially the most highly effective rocket ever constructed.

The rocket is then seen hovering by way of the darkish skies, adopted by a fiery tail. The facet boosters and core stage fell throughout the first 500 seconds of the mission, whereas the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage moved Orion in direction of its trajectory earlier than separating from the spacecraft.

Afterwards, all focus is on Orion. The video then reveals the within of the crew cabin, which was embellished with hidden messages and mementos. The loud roars of the rocket launch are adopted by the peaceable calm of house, with breathtaking views of Earth and the Moon taken by Orion’s cameras.

The uncrewed capsule is eerily quiet, with the again of Commander Moonikin Campos, a manikin designed to gather flight information, in direction of the digicam. But the inanimate commander is having fun with fairly the view, with hauntingly memorable pictures that reveal Earth and its satellite tv for pc throughout the depths of house.

During the mission, Orion carried out two lunar flybys and got here inside a distance of 80 miles (128 kilometers) from the Moon’s floor. 

With rather less than 10 minutes left within the video, the Orion capsule begins its descent again to Earth. Orion went from 20,000 miles per hour (32,100 kilometers per hour) down to twenty mph (32 km/hr) throughout its parachute-assisted descent. During its re-entry by way of Earth’s ambiance, Orion endured temperatures of about 5,000 levels Fahrenheit (2,760 levels Celsius), which is round half as sizzling because the floor of the Sun, in accordance with NASA.

The video gives a dizzying POV because the capsule makes its means right down to the ocean, with the three parachutes fluttering overhead. Orion lastly plops into the ocean, ending its unprecedented journey to the Moon and again. 

More: NASA Hid These Easter Eggs for Space Nerds on the Artemis 1 Orion Capsule