Looking out the window, returning to Earth

December 22, 2014 8:47 AM

This is what it's like to plummet through the atmosphere from space.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (13 comments total)

Psh, I do this every day on Google Earth.
posted by resurrexit at 9:16 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

I had no idea the sky would turn from black to blue so quickly (at about 4:02). Thanks for posting this!
posted by lharmon at 9:29 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

That's pretty neat. In the sidebar there was also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHy08ZPav88, which made me smile.
posted by ZaneJ. at 9:49 AM on December 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

Mesmerizing... (thanks for posting)
posted by JoeXIII007 at 10:05 AM on December 22, 2014

interesting that even when the main parachutes deploy, there doesn't seem to be enough air for them to fully inflate for at least several seconds.

that would be scary to see if you didn't know what to expect.
posted by leotrotsky at 10:43 AM on December 22, 2014

I know astronauts always talk about the Overview Effect but seeing this video, I think it's possible that de-orbit and splashdown might be rather more transformative. Almost like being re-born. You start weightless, in the limitless black of space. You're burned by the fire of creation. Suddenly you're in the sky, falling. The parachutes open, and you're floating again, although this time more like a feather. Down through the clouds and then you splash into the ocean and you're you again. Just you back here on Earth.

Thanks, BB. This made my day.
posted by ob1quixote at 10:47 AM on December 22, 2014 [6 favorites]

(╯°□°)╯︵ ███
posted by Oddly at 11:11 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

interesting that even when the main parachutes deploy, there doesn't seem to be enough air for them to fully inflate for at least several seconds.

That's parachute reefing. It's by design: to help protect the parachutes themselves, as well as slow everything else down more gradually.
posted by bonje at 12:01 PM on December 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

For the first four to five minutes I thought this was the ISS astronauts filming the Orion capsule descending. I got very confused, but I'm not complaining about being confused among multiple space platform currently in the air. #OrbitingTheFirstWorldProblems
posted by benito.strauss at 12:56 PM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

I really dig the clouds zipping past at around the four minute mark. It really gives you a sense of the speed at which this thing is moving before the chutes deploy.
posted by quin at 5:05 PM on December 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

Man, with that music, I thought we were gonna cruise by the Tyrell Corporation at some point.
posted by valkane at 7:16 PM on December 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

The window placement seems to give Orion an amazingly wide view. How cool is it that America's new space capsule has a sun roof !
posted by Popular Ethics at 8:20 PM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QteZk_WsJ1I

The Astronaut
posted by Oyéah at 10:09 AM on December 23, 2014