The Soyuz Space Capsule Returns to Earth

Have you ever wondered what it’s actually like to plummet through Earth’s atmosphere inside a tiny capsule? This video shows what actually happens during a descent inside the Soyuz space capsule as the crew experiences the return to Earth from the International Space Station. The video is based on the actual training lessons delivered to the ESA astronaut class of 2009.

The capsule and crew experience a fiery, bone shaking descent through the atmosphere, surrounded by a brilliant plasma streaking past the capsule exterior. As one of the crew described the reentry: “Seen from the inside of the spacecraft, it felt like there was somebody out there outside the spacecraft with a sledgehammer was hammering here and there, up and down.”