--- title: "This Footage of a Capsule Returning to Earth Is a Low Key Sci-Fi Masterpiece" description: "Space startup Varda Space Industries has shared a gorgeous video of one of its space capsules blasting through the Earth's atmosphere." date: "2024-02-29" modified: "2024-02-29" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/footage-capsule-returning-earth-masterpiece" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "atmosphere" - "reentry" - "the digest" - "varda" --- # This Footage of a Capsule Returning to Earth Is a Low Key Sci-Fi Masterpiece ![Space startup Varda Space Industries has shared a gorgeous video of one of its space capsules blasting through the Earth's atmosphere.]() *\Image: Varda Industries\* ## Ultimate Egg Drop Space startup Varda Space Industries has [shared]() a gorgeous video of one of its space capsules blasting through the Earth's atmosphere at 25 times the speed of sound. At first, the clip shows the capsule peacefully floating in outer space, with glinting stars far in the distance. At one point, you can even see the rocket that delivered into space floating by. As it reenters our planet's atmosphere, lit-up particles start racing by, with magenta hues giving way to orange and red, as the capsule starts heating up. Finally, the orange glow is replaced by the recognizable blue aura blanketing the Earth's surface below, with the spacecraft dipping into lush cloud cover. It's a gorgeous video that could've been yanked straight out of a sci-fi flick — without any rendering needed, as Varda promises. https://youtu.be/BWxl921rMgM ## Reentry Hard The video shows the end of an eight-month-long trip through space, far longer than the roughly one-month mission that was initially planned. The company's three-feet-across W-1 spacecraft, which was launched on a Rocket Lab Photon spacecraft in June, was designed to grow crystals of an antiviral drug in a microgravity environment. According to the [company's website](), the "benefits primarily stem from the lack of convection and sedimentation forces, as well as the ability to form more perfect structures due to the absence of gravitational stresses." But the company's mission hit a huge snag in September when neither the US Air Force nor the Federal Aviation Administration [agreed to clear]() the orbital production facility for a return back to Earth. Fortunately, in an October update, the company [announced]() that "our spacecraft is still healthy across all systems," despite being stuck in space far longer than expected. Earlier this month, the FAA [finally issued]() the reentry permit, paving the way for last week's landing. **More on Varda:** *[Drug Manufacturing Spacecraft Finally Cleared to Return to Earth]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()