Dec 22, 2014 12:56 PM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

NASA is allowing the general public to relive the test launch and landing of the Orion spacecraft, which may one day transport astronauts to Mars.

According to the Washington Post, NASA released a 10-minute video aptly titled "Astronaut's-Eye View of NASA's Orion Spacecraft Re-entry." For those who did not watch the NASA TV live coverage of the launch, orbit and touchdown, the video shows the spacecraft splash into the water from re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.

To simulate what an astronaut would see during a landing, Orion recorded its re-entry through the window of a cabin. The bright colors seen early in the video are a result of the intense heat generated from friction of the spacecraft's entry into the atmosphere. Eventually, viewers see Orion looking up at blue skies when the parachutes deploy and guide the spacecraft to its watery landing in the Pacific Ocean.

"Orion traveled 3,600 miles above Earth on its 4.5-hour flight test - farther than any spacecraft built for humans has been in more than 40 years," NASA said in a release. "In coming back from that distance, it also traveled faster and experienced hotter temperatures - 20,000 mph and near 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, to be exact. Orion will travel faster and experience even higher temperatures on future missions, when it returns from greater distances, but this altitude allowed engineers to perform a good checkout of Orion's critical systems - in particular its heat shield.

"Orion's flight test was a critical step on NASA's journey to Mars. Work already has begun on the next Orion capsule, which will launch for the first time on top of NASA's new Space Launch System rocket and travel to a distant retrograde orbit around the moon."

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