Stunning Video Shows Spacecraft Re-Entering Earth Surrounded by Sparkling Plasma Trails
Every once in a while, we get to see some brief glimpses of space through surprising video clips captured by scientists and astronauts, who often get a chance to witness it from their spacecraft and space stations. From capturing a view of our planet from space to featuring some distant celestial bodies, such videos remind us how vast, dynamic, and beautiful our universe truly is. In one such striking example, a video on X (formerly Twitter) offers an extraordinary view of sparkling plasma in space. The video was reportedly filmed from a spacecraft making its journey back to Earth.
The video was recorded by Varda Space Industries (@VardaSpace), which is a privately held American space research company. In the footage, which has over a million views on the platform, we see the spacecraft plunging into the Earth’s atmosphere, and its superfast movement through the plasma produces brilliant flashes of light, creating a scene that looks almost otherworldly. As reported by UCAR, plasma is the most common form of matter in the universe, making up about 99.9% of all visible matter. It is a hot gas consisting of free electrons and positively charged ions.
Surrounding Earth beyond the atmosphere, there lies a protective magnetic bubble known as the magnetosphere. This region is filled mostly with ionized plasma. Video clips like this offer an in-depth look at the intense conditions spacecraft often faces as it returns through Earth’s atmosphere. Sharing the video on their social media platform, Varda Space Industries wrote, “Here's a video of our capsule ripping through the atmosphere at mach 25, no renders, raw footage.” In the comments, they also posted the link to the longer video from separation to touchdown. Users on X rushed to the comment section, expressing their amazement and sharing thoughts on the stunning natural phenomenon.
One X user, @Ethical1moral1, commented, “Thank you so much for sharing!! It is an awe inspiring video for sure!” Another person, who goes by the username @HarishKatoch18, wrote, “Lovely. All the best with further future ventures on the Space frontier. Its wonderful that human technology is so advanced now. To imagine how brave it is to go out in the space beyond earth's atmosphere ... by mankind and it's crafts ... wow !” Many others also shared similar comments, clearly showing how captivated they were after watching the video.
This isn’t the first time such a mind-blowing spectacle has been captured. SpaceX, Elon Musk’s aerospace company, previously shared a similar footage showing the plasma glowing as their spacecraft re-entered Earth’s atmosphere. Meanwhile, did you know that sometimes, plasma trapped in Earth’s magnetosphere travels along the magnetic field lines toward the poles, resulting in the breathtaking auroras? This happens when powerful plasma particles slam into gases in the atmosphere, emitting bright glowing colors. These natural displays are rare, so if you have been fortunate enough to see them with your own eyes, you can consider yourself truly lucky.
You can watch the video here.
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