NASA released footage on Friday showing the final 10 minutes of the Orion space capsule's return to Earth after its Dec. 5 test flight, the Daily Mail reported.
The video shows an "astronaut's-eye view" of the re-entry process, ending with a safe splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
But along the way, the camera picks up a multi-colored view of the plasma created as the capsule's heat shield travels through the upper atmosphere, shifting from white to yellow to violet to magenta.
NASA said Orion's two-hour test flight was a precursor not only to a crewed mission to "redirect" an asteroid between Earth and the Moon, but an eventual mission to Mars with a full crew. The first crewed mission has reportedly been scheduled for 2021.
Watch the footage, as posted by NASA on Friday, below.
