A stunning video from a private US spaceflight corporation shows a space mission in detail, including the ascent of a launch vehicle, booster separation at 75 miles above the ground and landing of a space capsule with parachute.
Four GoPro Hero4 video cameras were attached to the launch vehicle, recording the entire event in high definition at 120fps, said UP Aerospace, a company that offers low-cost space access and payload transportations.
Cameras attached to the rocket showed it soaring upward fast. A nose fairing camera then captured the booster separating in space and ejecting the Maraia Earth return capsule. A camera mounted on the launch vehicle shows the capsule after the ejection, flying back towards the surface of Earth.
The suborbital space rocket reached an altitude of approximately 75 miles (120 kilometers). After descent, the experiments were recovered intact some 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the launch site.
The footage, which looks like something out of a Hollywood blockbuster, documented a real UP Aerospace test mission for NASA that was carried out on November 6. The rocket was launched from Spaceport America in New Mexico, and carried four technology experiments for NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program that funded the launch of these technologies, the space agency said.
The experiment is not the first mission filmed by UP Aaerospace. The company was recording its previous Spaceport launches with NASA, posting some amazing videos online.