NASA recorded one of the biggest science wins of the year in 2014 when it sent the Orion space capsule into orbit for the first time.
Why was it so significant? Because Orion is the first new space craft capable of carrying humans beyond Earth's orbit to launch since the space shuttle. Oh yeah, and it will take us to Mars. (Kinda).
Now NASA has released an incredible video of what astronauts aboard the capsule would see during re-entry.
The clip captures in a visceral, visual way the sheer insanity of plummeting through the atmosphere at close to 20,000 miles per hour. The troubling thing is that astronauts returning from Mars would have to face even greater speeds, and we're still not quite sure how to cope with that.
Oh well, that's a problem for the New Year. For now, enjoy this video and the other science highlights of 2014.