The company installed a camera on its private W-1 capsule to capture its first mission to return to Earth.
The full almost 30-minute video, published on YouTube, includes footage of separation from the spacecraft in orbit, «flaming» reentry, and a somewhat bumpy landing at a military training ground in Utah. According to Ars Technica, the W-1 spent about 8 months in low Earth orbit until Varda Space received all regulatory approvals to land in the United States.
«Video of our capsule ramming into the atmosphere at Mach 25 — raw footage», — Varda Space wrote in the description to the published video.
Varda, which collaborated with Rocket Lab on this mission, is trying to develop mini-laboratories that can produce pharmaceuticals in orbit — in this case, the HIV drug ritonavir (the development will be further analyzed by Indiana-based Improved Pharma).
The researchers have already found that protein crystals grown in space can form more sophisticated structures than those grown on Earth. The finished substances can be used to create medicines that the human body can absorb more easily, or more effective medicines with a longer shelf life. One of the key examples of research conducted on the ISS is the active ingredient pembrolizumab, which is used in the cancer immunotherapy drug Kytruda (crystals formed in space allowed for a more stable drug that can be administered by a short injection rather than the long intravenous infusion currently used).
The W-1 capsule was launched on a Falcon 9 in June 2013. Before re-entry, it was attached to the Rocket Lab Photon spacecraft, which provided power, communication, and altitude control, and after separation from the capsule, it burned up in the atmosphere.