The history of space exploration also has a tragic side. In total, about 350 people died during unsuccessful space flights and preparations for them. In addition to astronauts, this number also includes local residents and spaceport personnel who died as a result of falling debris and explosions. In this article, we will look at five disasters where the pilots of spacecraft directly became victims. The saddest thing is that most accidents could have been avoided, but fate decreed otherwise.
Death toll: 3
Official reason: spark due to short circuit in poorly insulated wiring
The world's first fatal space disaster occurred on January 27, 1967, with American astronauts during training in the command module of the Apollo 1 mission vehicle.
In 1966 in in full swing there was a lunar race between the two superpowers. Thanks to spy satellites, the United States knew about the construction of spacecraft in the USSR that could possibly take Soviet cosmonauts to the moon. The development of the Apollo spacecraft, therefore, was carried out in great haste. Because of this, of course, the quality of technology also suffered. The launch of two unmanned versions, AS-201 and AS-202, was successfully launched in 1966, and the first manned flight to the Moon was scheduled for February 1967. For crew training, the command module of the Apollo spacecraft was delivered to Cape Canaverall. The problems started from the very beginning. The module was seriously flawed, and dozens of engineering adjustments were made right on the spot.
On January 27, the planned simulation training in the module was supposed to take place to test the performance of all on-board instruments of the ship. Instead of air, oxygen and nitrogen were filled into the cabin in a ratio of 60% to 40%. The training started at 1pm. It took place with constant malfunctions - there were problems with communication, and the astronauts constantly smelled of burning, as it turned out as a result - due to a short circuit in the wiring. At 18:31, one of the cosmonauts shouted over the intercom: “Fire in the cabin! I'm on fire! Fifteen seconds later, unable to withstand the pressure, the module burst. The cosmodrome employees who came running could not help - astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee died on the spot from numerous burns.
Death toll: 1
Official reason: failure of the brake parachute system / flaws in the production of the spacecraft
On April 23, 1967, a grand event was scheduled - the first ever launch of a Soviet spacecraft of the Soyuz series. According to the plan, Soyuz 1 was the first to launch, piloted by Vladimir Komarov. Then it was planned to launch the Soyuz-2 spacecraft with Bykovsky, Eliseev and Khrunov on board. In open space, the ships were to dock, and Eliseev and Khrunov were to transfer to Soyuz-1. In words, everything sounded big, but from the very beginning something went wrong.
Immediately after the launch of Soyuz-1, one solar battery did not open, the ion orientation system was unstable, and the solar-stellar orientation sensor failed. The mission had to be terminated urgently. The Soyuz-2 flight was canceled and Vladimir Komarov was ordered to return to Earth. Here, too, serious problems arose. Due to the failure of the systems and the displacement of the center of mass, it was impossible to orient the ship for braking. Due to his professionalism, Komarov almost manually oriented the ship and successfully entered the atmosphere.
After the ship left orbit, a braking impulse was applied and an emergency detachment of the compartments was made. However, on last stage landing of the descent vehicle, the main and reserve drogue parachutes did not open. At a speed of about 150 km / h, the descent vehicle crashed into the Earth's surface in the Adamovsky district of the Orenburg region and caught fire. The apparatus was completely destroyed in the collision. Vladimir Komarov died. The reason for the failure of the brake parachute system could not be established.
Death toll: 3
Official reason: premature opening of the ventilation valve and further depressurization of the cabin
1971 The USSR lost the lunar race, but in response created orbital stations, where in the future it was possible to stay for months and do research. The world's first expedition to the orbital station was successfully completed. The crew consisting of Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsaev stayed at the station for 23 days, however, after a serious fire at the OS, the cosmonauts were ordered to return to Earth.
At an altitude of 150 km. separation has occurred. At the same time, the ventilation valve opened involuntarily, which was supposed to open at an altitude of 2 km. The cabin began to fill with fog, which condensed due to pressure drop. After 30 seconds, the astronauts lost consciousness. After another 2 minutes, the pressure dropped to 50 mm. rt. Art. Since the astronauts did not have spacesuits, they died from suffocation.
Despite the fact that the crew did not respond to MCC questions, re-entry, braking and landing were successful. After this tragic incident, Soyuz pilots began to be supplied with space suits without fail.
Death toll: 7
Official reason: gas leak in the elements of the solid fuel booster
The mid-1980s were a real triumph for the American Space Shuttle program. Successful missions took place one after another at unusually short intervals, sometimes no more than 17 days. The Challenger mission STS-51-L was significant for two reasons. Firstly, she broke the previous record, as the interval between missions was only 16 days. Secondly, the Challenger crew included a school teacher whose task was to conduct a lesson from orbit. This program was supposed to generate interest in space flight, which in last years calmed down a bit.
On January 28, 1986, the Kennedy Space Center was packed with thousands of spectators and journalists. About 20% of the country's population watched the live broadcast. The shuttle soared into the air to the cries of the admiring audience. Everything went well in the beginning, but then puffs of black smoke were visible coming out of the right solid rocket booster, and then a torch of fire appeared from it.
A few seconds later, the flame became significantly larger due to the combustion of the leaked liquid hydrogen. Approximately 70 seconds later, the destruction of the external fuel tank began, followed by a sharp explosion and detachment of the orbiter's cabin. During the fall of the cabin, the astronauts remained alive and conscious, they even made attempts to restore the power supply. But nothing helped. As a result of the impact of the orbiter cabin on the water, at a speed of 330 km / h, all crew members died on the spot.
After the shuttle exploded, numerous cameras continued to film what was happening. The faces of shocked people got into the lenses, among which were the relatives of all seven dead astronauts. Thus was filmed one of the most tragic reports in the history of television. After the disaster, a ban was imposed on the operation of shuttles for a period of 32 months. The system of solid-fuel boosters was also finalized, and a parachute rescue system was installed on all shuttles.
Death toll: 7
Official reason: damage to the heat-insulating layer on the wing of the device
On February 1, the shuttle Columbia successfully returned to Earth after a successful space mission. Initially, reentry into the atmosphere proceeded normally, but later a thermal sensor on the left wing transmitted an anomalous value to the MCC. From outer skin a piece of thermal insulation broke off, as a result of which the thermal protection system failed. After that, at least four sensors went off scale hydraulic system ship, and literally 5 minutes later the connection with the shuttle was cut off. While the MCC staff was trying to contact Columbia and find out what happened to the sensors, one of the employees saw in live the shuttle already falling apart. The entire crew of 7 people died.
This tragedy dealt a serious blow to the prestige of American space exploration. Shuttle flights were once again banned for 29 months. In the future, they performed only critical tasks for the repair and maintenance of the ISS. In fact, this was the end of the existence of the Space Shuttle program. The Americans were forced to ask Russia to transport cosmonauts to the ISS on Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
On October 28, 2014, just a few seconds after the launch, there occurred, which was supposed to launch the Signus private cargo spacecraft into orbit with cargo for the ISS crew. Of course, this incident is a very big setback for Orbital Sciences Corporation, the company that developed the rocket. However, the Antares explosion is unlikely to prevent the rapid development of private astronautics, which we have seen in recent years, for a long time. In addition, in the entire history of space exploration, there have been much more severe consequences space disasters. The most famous failed rocket launches and their consequences in our today's article.
Flopnik
After the launch of the first Sputnik (October 4, 1957), which came as a real shock to many Americans, public opinion in the USA demanded a speedy response Soviet Union. Already on December 6, 1957, the launch of the first American satellite, Avangard TV 3, was scheduled. However, just two seconds after launch, the booster lost thrust and crashed onto the launch pad, nearly destroying it.
A short flight of "Flopnik"
Source: U.S. Navy
Of course, the American media went over this failure as best they could, coming up with more and more witty options for the name of the unsuccessful launch - Flopnik, Upsnik, Kaputnik, etc. As a result, the first American satellite, Explorer 1, was launched only on February 1, 1958. The Avangard disaster was one of the reasons for the creation of NASA, a single agency designed to take control of the then disparate American space programs.
Disaster at Baikonur
On October 24, 1960, preparations were made for a test launch of the R-16 ballistic missile at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch was timed to coincide with the next anniversary of the October Revolution, so the preparations were carried out in an emergency mode, in violation of almost all possible safety rules. After a 30-minute readiness for launch was announced and the program current distributor was set to zero, an unauthorized launch of the second stage engine occurred, which led to an instantaneous explosion of the rocket.
Formally, this event is difficult to attribute to space launches. However, it is worth recalling that in those years it was often very difficult to draw a line between military programs and astronautics. In addition, the rocket explosion not only destroyed the entire launch pad, but also led to a huge number of casualties - according to official figures, 74 people died, including the commander-in-chief of the missile forces, Marshal Nedelin. This disaster has become one of the largest in the history of world rocket science. Since then, October 24 is considered a black day for cosmonautics, and no launches are made at Baikonur on this day.
Mariner 1 or the most expensive missed feature in history
On July 22, 1963, Mariner 1 was to become the first American spacecraft to reach Venus. However, soon after the launch field, the rocket antenna lost contact with the guidance system on Earth.
Launch of Atlas LV-3 Agena-B rocket with Mariner-1 on board As a result, the control was taken over by the on-board computer, the program of which contained an error - a lost line over one of the characters, which, at the suggestion of the media, turned into a “missing hyphen”. An incorrect program led to the fact that the rocket went off course and was destroyed on command from Earth 293 seconds after launch. The damage amounted to 18.5 million dollars - taking into account inflation, this amount would now be equal to 135 million dollars. High price for one missing character.
H-1 disaster
July 1969 It has long been clear to all participants in the Soviet lunar program that the race of the century is lost and soon American astronauts will land on the moon. But this does not mean the end of the Soviet program: work continues at full speed on the super-heavy launch vehicle N-1, which in a few years will be able to deliver Soviet cosmonauts to the moon. In parallel, plans are being worked out to create the Soviet lunar base Zvezda. Everything depends on the success of H-1.
However, the launch of H-1, which takes place on July 3, ended in a complete disaster. The rocket managed to take off only 200 meters, after which the engines began to turn off. As a result, the 1800 ton machine crashed onto the launch pad, completely destroying it and seriously damaging another launch pad. This explosion was the largest in the history of rocketry and one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions of all time. The next launch of the H-1 took place only a year later and also ended in failure, as well as the next one. As a result, Soviet cosmonauts never managed to get to the moon.
Disaster at the Plesetsk cosmodrome
On March 18, 1980, at the Plesetsk cosmodrome, preparations were made for the launch of the Vostok-2M launch vehicle. According to eyewitnesses, during the refueling of the rocket there was an outbreak in the area of the third stage. A few seconds later, a sub-zero explosion occurred and a massive fire started, resulting in the death of 48 people.
Memorial complex at the cosmodrome in Plesetsk According to the official version, the cause of the disaster was "an explosion (ignition) of oxygen-saturated tissue as a result of unauthorized actions of one of the numbers of the combat crew." Whether it was really so, we will never know, since everyone who could refute it died along with the rocket during one of the most terrible explosions in the history of astronautics.
Miraculous escape from the fire trap
Not all space catastrophes resulted in casualties. The incident that occurred on September 26, 1983 is still considered one of the most amazing rescues in the history of astronautics. On that day, the Soyuz T-10-1 spacecraft with a crew of Vladimir Titov and Alexander Serebrov was supposed to go to the Salyut-7 orbital station. However, less than a minute before the start of the launch, the valve responsible for lubrication in the fuel supply system failed on the launch vehicle, which led to the ignition of the rocket. 10 seconds before the launch, the operators activated the emergency rescue system, which fired off the descent vehicle with the crew. Two seconds later, the rocket completely disintegrated.
Rescue capsule Soyuz T-10-1 The moment of shooting the capsule can be seen on the video from 2:50:
During four seconds of operation of the solid-propellant engines of the emergency rescue system, the astronauts experienced overloads from 14 to 18 g, rising to a height of 650 meters and then by inertia up to 950 meters, where the parachute opened. After 5 minutes, the capsule with the astronauts landed four kilometers from the accident site. But despite the huge overload, the astronauts were not injured. In the history of astronautics, this is the only case of using an emergency astronaut rescue system.
The Challenger disaster
January 28, 1986. The Space Shuttle program will soon celebrate the fifth anniversary of manned spaceflight. Shuttles have already flown into space 24 times, with 9 flights in the previous year, and NASA intends to increase this figure. Anniversary 25th launch enjoys increased attention and for another reason: in the crew of seven astronauts is Christa McAuliffe, who is to become the first teacher in space.
The Challenger disaster Expensive components and the best scientific minds cannot yet guarantee the absolute success of any space operation: spacecraft continue to fail, fall and explode. Today, people boldly talk about the colonization of Mars, and just a few decades ago, any attempt to launch a ship into outer space could turn into a terrible tragedy.
1967 The space industry lags behind the United States by two huge steps - for two years the States have been producing manned flights and for two years the USSR has not had a single flight. Therefore, the country's leadership was so eager to launch the Soyuz into orbit with a man on board at all costs.
All trial tests of unmanned "unions" ended in accidents. Soyuz-1 was launched into orbit on April 23, 1967. There is one cosmonaut on board - Vladimir Komarov.
Problems began immediately after entering orbit: one of the two panels did not open solar panels. The ship experienced a power shortage. The flight had to be canceled ahead of schedule. The Soyuz successfully deorbited, but final stage landing didn't work parachute system. The pilot chute was unable to pull the main parachute out of the tray, and the lines of the successfully released reserve parachute were wrapped around the unfired pilot chute. The final reason for the failure of the main parachute has not been established. Among the most common versions is a violation of technology in the production of the descent vehicle at the plant. There is a version that due to the heating of the device, the paint on the parachute ejection tray, with which it was painted by mistake, became sticky, and the parachute did not come out, as it “stuck” to the tray. At a speed of 50 m/s, the descent vehicle hit the ground, which led to the death of the astronaut.
This accident was the first (known) case of human death in the history of manned space flights.
The fire occurred on January 27, 1967 during preparations for the first manned flight under the Apollo program. The entire crew was killed. Probable Causes there were several tragedies: an error in choosing the atmosphere (a choice was made in favor of pure oxygen) of the ship and a spark (or short circuit), which could serve as a kind of detonator.
The Apollo crew a few days before the tragedy. Left to right: Edward White, Virgil Grissom, Roger Chaffee.
Oxygen was preferred over an oxygen-nitrogen gas mixture, as it makes the ship's pressurized structure much lighter. However, little significance was attached to the difference in pressure during flight and during training on Earth. Some parts of the ship and elements of the astronauts' suits became very flammable in an oxygen atmosphere at high pressure.
This is what the command module looked like after the fire.
Once ignited, the fire spread from incredible speed, damaging the suits. Complex design hatch and its locks did not leave the astronauts a chance to escape.
Ship commander Georgy Dobrovolsky (center), test engineer Viktor Patsaev and flight engineer Vladislav Volkov (right). This was the first crew of the Salyut-1 orbital station. The tragedy occurred during the return of the astronauts to earth. Until the discovery of the ship after landing, on Earth they did not know that the crew had died. Since the landing took place in automatic mode, the descent vehicle landed at the designated place, without major deviations from the plan.
The search team found the crew with no signs of life, resuscitation did not help.
Soyuz-11 after landing.
The main accepted version is depressurization. The crew died from decompression sickness. An analysis of the recorder records showed that at an altitude of about 150 km, the pressure in the descent vehicle began to drop sharply. The Commission concluded that the reason for this decline was the unauthorized opening of the ventilation valve.
This valve was supposed to open at a low altitude when the squib was blown up. Why the squib worked much earlier is not known for certain.
Presumably, this happened due to the shock wave passing through the body of the apparatus. And the shock wave, in turn, is caused by the operation of the squibs separating the Soyuz compartments. It was not possible to reproduce this during ground tests. However, later on the design ventilation valves has been improved. It should be noted that the design of the Soyuz-11 did not provide for spacesuits for the crew ...
This tragedy has become one of the most high-profile in the history of space exploration, thanks to live television. The American shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986, 73 seconds after launch, which was watched by millions of spectators. All 7 crew members were killed.
It was found that the destruction of the aircraft was caused by damage to the sealing ring of the solid propellant booster. Damage to the ring during launch led to the formation of a hole from which a jet stream began to beat. In turn, this led to the destruction of the accelerator mount and the structure of the external fuel tank. Due to the destruction of the fuel tank, the fuel components detonated.
The shuttle did not explode, as is commonly believed, but it "collapsed" due to aerodynamic overloads. The cockpit did not collapse, but most likely depressurized. The debris fell into Atlantic Ocean. It was possible to find and raise many fragments of the shuttle, including the cockpit. It was found that at least three crew members survived the destruction of the shuttle and were conscious while trying to turn on the air supply devices.
After this disaster, the Shuttles were equipped with an emergency crew evacuation system. But it is worth noting that in the Challenger accident, this system could not save the crew, since it is designed to be used strictly during level flight. This disaster "turned off" the shuttle program for 2.5 years. The Special Commission placed a high degree of blame on the lack of "corporate culture" throughout the structure of NASA, as well as the crisis of the managerial decision-making system. Managers have been aware of a defect in o-rings supplied by a particular supplier for 10 years…
The tragedy occurred on the morning of February 1, 2003 during the return to Earth after a 16-day stay of the shuttle in orbit. After entering the dense layers of the atmosphere, the ship did not get in touch with the NASA mission control center, and instead of the shuttle, its fragments appeared in the sky falling to the ground.
What happened
Space Shuttle Columbia Crew: Kalpana Chawla, Richard Husband, Michael Anderson, Laurel Clark, Ilan Ramon, William McCool, David Brown.
The investigation went on for several months. The wreckage of the shuttle was collected in an area equal in size to two states. It was found that the cause of the disaster was damage to the protective layer of the wing of the shuttle. This damage was likely caused by a piece of oxygen tank insulation falling off during the launch of the ship. As in the case of the Challenger, the tragedy could have been prevented if the crew had carried out a visual inspection of the ship in orbit by a strong-willed decision of NASA leaders.
There is evidence that technical specialists sent a request for an image of damage received during launch three times. NASA management considered that the damage from the impact of the thermal insulation foam could not lead to serious consequences.
This flight of American astronauts is one of the most famous Apollo manned missions to the Moon. The incredible fortitude and perseverance with which thousands of people on Earth tried to return people from the space trap were sung by writers and directors. (The most famous and detailed film about those events is Ron Howard's Apollo 13.)
Launch of Apollo 13.
After the standard mixing of oxygen and nitrogen in their respective tanks, the astronauts heard a bang and felt a jolt. A gas (oxygen mixture) leak from the service compartment became noticeable in the porthole. A cloud of gas changed the orientation of the ship. Apollo began to lose oxygen and energy. The account went to the clock. A plan was made to use the lunar module as a lifeboat. A headquarters was set up on Earth to rescue the crew. There were many problems that had to be solved at the same time.
The damaged engine compartment of Apollo 13 after separation.
The ship had to fly around the moon and enter the return trajectory.
Throughout the operation, in addition to technical problems with the spacecraft, the astronauts began to experience a life support crisis. It was impossible to turn on the heaters - the temperature in the module dropped to 5 degrees Celsius. The crew began to freeze, in addition, there was a threat of freezing food and water supplies.
Content carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the cabin of the lunar module reached 13%. Thanks to clear instructions from the command center, the crew was able to make “filters” from scrap materials, which made it possible to bring the carbon dioxide content to acceptable levels.
During the rescue operation, the crew was able to undock the engine compartment and separate the lunar module. All this had to be done almost "manually" in terms of life support indicators close to critical. After the successful completion of these operations, it was still necessary to perform pre-landing navigation. If the navigation systems were configured incorrectly, the module could enter the atmosphere at the wrong angle, which would cause critical overheating of the cabin.
For the landing period, a number of countries (including the USSR) declared radio silence at operating frequencies.
On April 17, 1970, the Apollo 13 compartment entered the Earth's atmosphere and splashed down safely. Indian Ocean. All crew members survived.
The biggest space disasters in history October 16th, 2013
In the recently released space thriller "Gravity", viewers have the opportunity to watch a terrifying situation when the astronauts played by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney takes you far into space. The catastrophe is due to the fact that space debris disables the space shuttle. While this situation is fictional, the potential for death and destruction is very real. Here major disasters that have occurred in the history of space flight.
The first fatal accident in the history of space flight occurred in 1967 with a Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov aboard the Soyuz 1, which died on landing when the spacecraft's descent module crashed into the ground. According to various sources, the cause of the tragedy was the failure of the parachute system. One can only guess what happened during the last minutes.
Upon impact to the ground, the onboard tape recorder melted, and the astronaut most likely died instantly from incredible overloads. Only a few charred remains remained of the body.
Another tragic ending in the Soviet space program occurred on June 30, 1971, when the astronauts George Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Victor Patsaev died while returning to Earth from the Salyut-1 space station.
The investigation showed that during the descent of the Soyuz 11, the respiratory valve, which is usually opened before landing, worked earlier, causing asphyxiation of the astronauts. The pressure drop in the descent vehicle exposed the crew to open space. The astronauts were without space suits, since the descent vehicle was not designed for three people.
Already 22 seconds after the depressurization at an altitude of about 150 km, they began to lose consciousness, and after 42 seconds their heart stopped. They were found sitting in a chair, they had a hemorrhage, their eardrums were damaged, and the nitrogen in the blood clogged the vessels.
On January 28, 1986, NASA's Space Shuttle Challenger exploded live shortly after liftoff. The launch got everyone's attention as it was the first time a teacher went into orbit. Christa McAuliffe, which hoped to give lessons from space, attracting an audience of millions of schoolchildren.
The disaster dealt a serious blow to the reputation of the United States, and everyone could watch it. The investigation showed that due to cold temperature on the day of launch, there was a problem with the O-ring, which destroyed the mount. All seven crew members died in the disaster, and the shuttle program closed until 1988.
17 years after the Challenger tragedy, the shuttle program suffered another loss when the spacecraft Columbia broke up during re-entry on February 1, 2003, towards the end of the STS-107 mission. The investigation showed that the cause of death was foam fragments that damaged the shuttle's thermal insulation coating, forming a hole with a diameter of about 20 cm.
Found ship wreckage
All seven crew members could have escaped, but quickly lost consciousness and died as the shuttle continued to fall apart.
While no astronauts died during the Apollo program, two fatal accidents did occur during related activities. Three astronauts: Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee died during a command module ground test on January 27, 1967. During preparation, a fire broke out in the cabin, causing the astronauts to suffocate and burn their bodies.
The investigation uncovered several errors, including the use of pure oxygen in the cockpit, flammable Velcro fasteners, and an inward-opening hatch that prevented the crew from quickly escaping. Prior to the test, the three astronauts were concerned upcoming training and took pictures in front of the ship model.
The accident led to many changes and improvements to future missions that later led to the first moon landing.
The Apollo 13 mission vividly demonstrated the dangers that await man in space.
The launch of the spacecraft took place on April 11, 1970 at 13:13. During the flight, an oxygen tank exploded, damaging the service module, disrupting plans for a moon landing.
Damaged Apollo 13 Service Module
To return to Earth, the astronauts had to fly around the moon, taking advantage of its gravity. During the explosion, the astronaut Jack Swigert over the radio, said the phrase: "Houston, we had a problem." Subsequently, in the famous Hollywood film "Apollo 13" it was changed to the famous quote: "Houston, we have a problem."
Both in the Soviet space program and in NASA, there were quite interesting, although not catastrophic, cases. In 1969, during the launch of Apollo 12, lightning struck the spacecraft twice at 36 and 52 seconds after liftoff. Despite this, the mission was successful.
"Voskhod-2" became famous due to the fact that in 1965 during the flight the world's first spacewalk was made by an astronaut.
But there was a small incident during landing due to the delay caused by an additional orbit around the Earth. At the same time, the place of re-entry into the atmosphere was shifted. Alexey Leonov and Pavel Belyaev on board the ship landed in the deep taiga about 30 km from the city of Bereznyaki, Perm region. The astronauts spent two days in the taiga, after which they were discovered by rescuers.
Source www.space.com
Expensive components and the best scientific minds cannot yet guarantee the absolute success of any space operation: spacecraft continue to fail, fall and explode. Today, people boldly talk about the colonization of Mars, and just a few decades ago, any attempt to launch a ship into outer space could turn into a terrible tragedy.
1967 The space industry lags behind the United States by two huge steps - for two years the States have been producing manned flights and for two years the USSR has not had a single flight. Therefore, the country's leadership was so eager to launch the Soyuz into orbit with a man on board at all costs.
All trial tests of unmanned "unions" ended in accidents. Soyuz-1 was launched into orbit on April 23, 1967. There is one cosmonaut on board - Vladimir Komarov.
Problems began immediately after entering orbit: one of the two solar panels did not open. The ship experienced a power shortage. The flight had to be canceled ahead of schedule. The Soyuz successfully deorbited, but the parachute system failed during the final landing phase. The pilot chute was unable to pull the main parachute out of the tray, and the lines of the successfully released reserve parachute were wrapped around the unfired pilot chute. The final reason for the failure of the main parachute has not been established. Among the most common versions is a violation of technology in the production of the descent vehicle at the plant. There is a version that due to the heating of the device, the paint on the parachute ejection tray, with which it was painted by mistake, became sticky, and the parachute did not come out, as it “stuck” to the tray. At a speed of 50 m/s, the descent vehicle hit the ground, which led to the death of the astronaut.
This accident was the first (known) case of human death in the history of manned space flights.
The fire occurred on January 27, 1967 during preparations for the first manned flight under the Apollo program. The entire crew was killed. There were several probable causes of the tragedy: an error in choosing the atmosphere (a choice was made in favor of pure oxygen) of the ship and a spark (or short circuit), which could serve as a kind of detonator.
The Apollo crew a few days before the tragedy. Left to right: Edward White, Virgil Grissom, Roger Chaffee.
Oxygen was preferred over an oxygen-nitrogen gas mixture, as it makes the ship's pressurized structure much lighter. However, little significance was attached to the difference in pressure during flight and during training on Earth. Some parts of the ship and elements of the astronauts' suits became very flammable in an oxygen atmosphere at high pressure.
This is what the command module looked like after the fire.
Once ignited, the fire spread at an incredible speed, damaging the suits. The complex design of the hatch and its locks did not leave the astronauts a chance to escape.
Ship commander Georgy Dobrovolsky (center), test engineer Viktor Patsaev and flight engineer Vladislav Volkov (right). This was the first crew of the Salyut-1 orbital station. The tragedy occurred during the return of the astronauts to earth. Until the discovery of the ship after landing, on Earth they did not know that the crew had died. Since the landing took place in automatic mode, the descent vehicle landed at the designated place, without major deviations from the plan.
The search team found the crew with no signs of life, resuscitation did not help.
Soyuz-11 after landing.
The main accepted version is depressurization. The crew died from decompression sickness. An analysis of the recorder records showed that at an altitude of about 150 km, the pressure in the descent vehicle began to drop sharply. The Commission concluded that the reason for this decline was the unauthorized opening of the ventilation valve.
This valve was supposed to open at a low altitude when the squib was blown up. Why the squib worked much earlier is not known for certain.
Presumably, this happened due to the shock wave passing through the body of the apparatus. And the shock wave, in turn, is caused by the operation of the squibs separating the Soyuz compartments. It was not possible to reproduce this during ground tests. However, in the future, the design of the ventilation valves was finalized. It should be noted that the design of the Soyuz-11 did not provide for spacesuits for the crew ...
This tragedy has become one of the most high-profile in the history of space exploration, thanks to live television. The American shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986, 73 seconds after launch, which was watched by millions of spectators. All 7 crew members were killed.
It was found that the destruction of the aircraft was caused by damage to the sealing ring of the solid propellant booster. Damage to the ring during launch led to the formation of a hole from which a jet stream began to beat. In turn, this led to the destruction of the accelerator mount and the structure of the external fuel tank. Due to the destruction of the fuel tank, the fuel components detonated.
The shuttle did not explode, as is commonly believed, but it "collapsed" due to aerodynamic overloads. The cockpit did not collapse, but most likely depressurized. Debris fell into the Atlantic Ocean. It was possible to find and raise many fragments of the shuttle, including the cockpit. It was found that at least three crew members survived the destruction of the shuttle and were conscious while trying to turn on the air supply devices.
After this disaster, the Shuttles were equipped with an emergency crew evacuation system. But it is worth noting that in the Challenger accident, this system could not save the crew, since it is designed to be used strictly during level flight. This disaster "turned off" the shuttle program for 2.5 years. The Special Commission placed a high degree of blame on the lack of "corporate culture" throughout the structure of NASA, as well as the crisis of the managerial decision-making system. Managers have been aware of a defect in o-rings supplied by a particular supplier for 10 years…
The tragedy occurred on the morning of February 1, 2003 during the return to Earth after a 16-day stay of the shuttle in orbit. After entering the dense layers of the atmosphere, the ship did not get in touch with the NASA mission control center, and instead of the shuttle, its fragments appeared in the sky falling to the ground.
Space Shuttle Columbia Crew: Kalpana Chawla, Richard Husband, Michael Anderson, Laurel Clark, Ilan Ramon, William McCool, David Brown.
The investigation went on for several months. The wreckage of the shuttle was collected in an area equal in size to two states. It was found that the cause of the disaster was damage to the protective layer of the wing of the shuttle. This damage was likely caused by a piece of oxygen tank insulation falling off during the launch of the ship. As in the case of the Challenger, the tragedy could have been prevented if the crew had carried out a visual inspection of the ship in orbit by a strong-willed decision of NASA leaders.
There is evidence that technical specialists sent a request for an image of damage received during launch three times. NASA management considered that the damage from the impact of the thermal insulation foam could not lead to serious consequences.
This flight of American astronauts is one of the most famous Apollo manned missions to the Moon. The incredible fortitude and perseverance with which thousands of people on Earth tried to return people from the space trap were sung by writers and directors. (The most famous and detailed film about those events is Ron Howard's Apollo 13.)
Launch of Apollo 13.
After the standard mixing of oxygen and nitrogen in their respective tanks, the astronauts heard a bang and felt a jolt. A gas (oxygen mixture) leak from the service compartment became noticeable in the porthole. A cloud of gas changed the orientation of the ship. Apollo began to lose oxygen and energy. The account went to the clock. A plan was made to use the lunar module as a lifeboat. A headquarters was set up on Earth to rescue the crew. There were many problems that had to be solved at the same time.
The damaged engine compartment of Apollo 13 after separation.
The ship had to fly around the moon and enter the return trajectory.
In the course of the entire operation, in addition to technical problems with the ship, the astronauts began to experience a crisis in life support systems. It was impossible to turn on the heaters - the temperature in the module dropped to 5 degrees Celsius. The crew began to freeze, in addition, there was a threat of freezing food and water supplies.
The content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the cabin of the lunar module reached 13%. Thanks to clear instructions from the command center, the crew was able to make “filters” from scrap materials, which made it possible to bring the carbon dioxide content to acceptable levels.
During the rescue operation, the crew was able to undock the engine compartment and separate the lunar module. All this had to be done almost "manually" in terms of life support indicators close to critical. After the successful completion of these operations, it was still necessary to perform pre-landing navigation. If the navigation systems were configured incorrectly, the module could enter the atmosphere at the wrong angle, which would cause critical overheating of the cabin.
For the landing period, a number of countries (including the USSR) declared radio silence at operating frequencies.
On April 17, 1970, the Apollo 13 compartment entered the Earth's atmosphere and splashed down safely in the Indian Ocean. All crew members survived.
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