Rhetorical effects of future tense when describing past event

Just before 2 a.m., as it prepared for its return to Earth, the Crew
Dragon jettisoned what SpaceX calls the “trunk” section of the
spacecraft — the cylindrical compartment below the gumpdrop-shaped
capsule. The trunk will burn up in the atmosphere. Five minutes
after the trunk is detached, the capsule fired its thrusters for
about 16 minutes to drop out of orbit. Once it was low enough in
Earth’s atmosphere, parachutes deployed to gently lower the capsule
into the sea.

As I read a New York Times article about the return to Earth of four astronauts in a SpaceX capsule, I came across the sentences above. In chronicling a string of past events, the author applied the future or present tense, perhaps aiming to create a vivid description of some sort.

But as a non-native speaker, I found it difficult to point out precisely what effects this rhetorical device had since I was a bit baffled by the sudden appearance of the future and present tense.

Could you tell me about exactly what effects this rhetorical technique has and how you, as a native speaker, feel when this future-tense sentence suddenly appears?