Half a century ago, something happened that was hard to believe - a man flew into space. Astronauts are heroes of a bygone generation, but their names are still remembered today. Few people know, but space for man was far from peaceful, it was given by blood. The deceased cosmonauts, hundreds of test officers and soldiers who died in explosions and fires in the process of testing rocket technology. Needless to say, the thousands of unnamed servicemen who died while doing routine work - crashed, burned alive, poisoned with heptyl. And, despite this, unfortunately, not everyone was satisfied. Flying into space is an unusually dangerous and difficult job: about the people who perform it, and will be discussed in this article ...
Komarov Vladimir Mikhailovich
Pilot-cosmonaut, engineer-colonel, twice Hero of the Soviet Union. More than once he flew on the Voskhod-1 and Soyuz-1 spacecraft. He was the commander of the first-ever crew of three. Komarov died on April 24, 1967, when, at the end of the flight program, during descent to Earth, the parachute of the descent vehicle did not open, as a result of which the structure, on board which the officer was on, crashed into the ground at full speed.
Dobrovolsky Georgy Timofeevich
Soviet cosmonaut, Air Force lieutenant colonel, Hero of the Soviet Union. Died June 30, 1971 in the stratosphere over Kazakhstan. The cause of death is believed to be the depressurization of the Soyuz-11 descent vehicle, probably due to valve failure. He had a huge number of prestigious awards, including the Order of Lenin.
Patsaev Victor Ivanovich
Pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR, Hero of the Soviet Union, the first astronomer in the world who was lucky enough to work outside the earth's atmosphere. Patsaev was in the same crew as Dobrovolsky, he died with him on June 30, 1971 due to a leak in the Soyuz-11 SA oxygen valve.
Scobie Francis Richard
Astronaut NASA, twice made space flights on the Challenger shuttle. It is listed among those killed in space as a result of the accident of the STS-51L spacecraft, along with its crew. The launch vehicle with the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after the launch, there were 7 people on board. The cause of the catastrophe is considered to be burnout of the walls of the solid-fuel accelerator. Francis Scobie's name is posthumously inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame.
Reznik Judith Arlen
An American woman astronaut, spent about 150 hours in space, was part of the crew of the same ill-fated space shuttle Challenger and died at its launch on January 28, 1986 in Florida. At one time, she was the second woman who flew into space.
Anderson Michael Phillip
American aerospace computer engineer, US astronaut pilot, Air Force lieutenant colonel. During his life, he has flown more than 3000 hours on various jet planes. Killed while returning from space aboard the Columbia STS-107 spacecraft on February 1, 2003. The crash occurred at an altitude of 63 kilometers above Texas. Anderson and six of his colleagues, after a 15-day stay in orbit, burned to death just 16 minutes before landing.
Ramon Ilan
Israeli Air Force pilot, Israel's first astronaut. Tragically died on February 1, 2003 in the destruction of the same shuttle "Columbia STS-107", which crashed in the dense layers of the earth's atmosphere.
Grissom Virgil Ivan
The world's first commander of a two-seater spacecraft. Unlike the previous participants in the rating, this astronaut died on Earth, even during the preparatory phase of the flight, a month before the scheduled launch of Apollo 1. On January 27, 1967, during training at Kennedy Space Center, a fire broke out in an atmosphere of pure oxygen, where Virgil Griss and two of his colleagues died.
Bondarenko Valentin Vasilievich
He died under very similar circumstances on March 23, 1961. He was on the list of the first 20 cosmonauts selected for the first ever space flight. When tested by the cold and loneliness in the pressure chamber, his training woolen suit caught fire as a result of an accident, and the man died from the burns he received eight hours later.
Adams Michael James
American test pilot, US Air Force astronaut. He was among the dead in space during his seventh suborbital flight on the X-15 in 1967. For unknown reasons, the aircraft on board which Adams was on board was completely destroyed at an altitude of more than 50 miles above the earth's surface. The causes of the accident still remain unknown, all telemetric information was lost along with the remnants of the rocket plane.
Everyone knows about good luck. Almost no one talks about failures. Heroes whose names are few people know.
The very first victim of Soviet space flights, apparently, should be considered a member of the first cosmonaut corps, Valentin Bondarenko. He died on March 23, 1961 while training in the isolation chamber of a scientific institute. The future cosmonaut was only 24 years old. When he detached the medical sensors from himself, he wiped his body with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol and threw it away. The cotton wool accidentally fell on the electric heater, and the chamber, saturated with oxygen, burst into flames. Clothes caught fire. The cell door could not be opened for several minutes. Bondarenko died of shock and burns. After this incident, it was decided to abandon the design of spacecraft with an oxygen-enriched atmosphere. But the incident itself was covered up by the Soviet government. If it were not for this secrecy, then perhaps it would have been possible to avoid the deaths of three American astronauts under similar circumstances.
On April 23, 1967, upon returning to Earth, the parachute system of the Soyuz-1 spacecraft failed, resulting in the death of cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. It was a Soyuz test flight. The ship, by all accounts, was still very "raw", launches in unmanned mode ended in failures. On November 28, 1966, the launch of the "first" automatic "Soyuz-1" (which was later renamed to "Kosmos-133" in the TASS report) ended in an emergency de-orbit. On December 14, 1966, the launch of Soyuz-2 also ended abnormally, and even with the destruction of the launch pad (there was no public information about this Soyuz-2). Despite all this, the Soviet political leadership insisted on the urgent organization of a new space achievement by May 1. The rocket was hastily prepared for launch, the first checks revealed more than a hundred problems. The cosmonaut, who was supposed to go to the Soyuz, after reports of so many malfunctions, raised his blood pressure, and doctors forbade him to be sent on a flight. Instead, they persuaded Komarov to fly as more prepared (according to another version, the decision that Soyuz-1 would be piloted by Vladimir Komarov was made on August 5, 1966, Yuri Gagarin was appointed his backup).
The spacecraft went into orbit, but there were so many problems that it had to be urgently planted (it is written in the encyclopedias of the Soviet era that the flight program was completed successfully). According to one of the versions, the cause of the disaster was the technological negligence of a certain installer. To get to one of the units, a worker drilled a hole in the heat shield, and then hammered a steel blank into it. When the descent vehicle entered the dense layers of the atmosphere, the ingot melted, the air jet penetrated into the parachute compartment and squeezed the container with the parachute, which could not exit completely. Komarov released a reserve parachute. He left normally, but the capsule began to somersault, the first parachute swept over the lines of the second and extinguished it. Komarov has lost any chance of escape. He realized that he was doomed, and for the entire Universe the material of our rulers. The Americans recorded his heartbreaking conversations with his wife and friends, complaints about the rise in temperature, death moans and screams. Vladimir Komarov died when the descent vehicle hit the ground.
The minaviaprom, responsible for the parachute system, offered its own version of its refusal. During the descent at an off-design altitude in a rarefied atmosphere, the cover of the glass in which the parachutes were packed was shot off. There was a pressure drop in the glass, mounted in the sphere of the descent vehicle, as a result of this, the deformation of this glass, which pinched the main parachute (the exhaust pipe of a smaller size opened), which led to a ballistic descent of the vehicle and high speed when meeting the ground.
Cosmonauts Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsaev died on June 30, 1971 when returning from the first Salyut-1 orbital station, also during descent, due to depressurization of the Soyuz-11 descent vehicle. At the cosmodrome, before the launch, the main crew (Alexei Leonov, Valery Kubasov and Pyotr Kolodin) was replaced by a backup crew (Dobrovolsky, Volkov, Patsaev). The tragedy could not have happened if not for political ambitions. Since the Americans had already flown to the moon on three-seat Apollo spacecraft, it was required that at least three cosmonauts flew with us. If the crew consisted of two people, they could be in spacesuits. But the three spacesuits did not fit either in weight or in size. And then it was decided to fly in some tracksuits.
On October 12, 1964, Vladimir Komarov, Konstantin Feoktistov and Boris Egorov also went on a flight on the Voskhod in a cramped cockpit, originally designed for one person (just like Gagarin flew in this one). In order to save space, the only ejection seat was removed from it, and the cosmonauts themselves flew not in protective spacesuits, but light - in tracksuits. Seeing them off, Korolyov hugged everyone and said: "Forgive me if something happens. I am a man of bondage." Then it passed.
The descent of Soyuz-11 proceeded normally up to an altitude of 150 km and the moment of the obligatory division of the ship into three parts before entering the atmosphere (in this case, the utility and instrument compartments depart from the descent vehicle of the cabin). At the moment of separation, when the ship was in space, the breathing ventilation valve, connecting the cockpit with the outside environment, was suddenly opened, which should have been triggered much later, near the ground. Why did it open? According to experts, this has not yet been precisely established. Most likely - due to shock loads during the rupture of the explosive bolts during the separation of the ship's compartments (two explosive bolts were located not far from the respiratory ventilation valve, a microexplosion could set the locking rod in motion, which caused the "window" to open). The pressure in the descent vehicle dropped so rapidly that the cosmonauts lost consciousness before they could unfasten their belts and manually close a hole the size of a five-kopeck coin (however, there is evidence that Dobrovolsky managed to free himself from the "harness", but nothing more). The victims were found to have traces of hemorrhage in the brain, blood in the lungs, damage to the eardrum, the release of nitrogen from the blood. The tragedy cast doubt on the reliability of Soviet space technology and interrupted the manned flight program for two years. After the death of Dobrovolsky, Volkov and Patsaev, the cosmonauts began to fly only in special suits. Cardinal measures were urgently taken to guarantee the safety of people in the event of a depressurization of the descent vehicle.
On April 5, 1975, the third stage of the Soyuz-18/1 launch vehicle crashed. Fortunately, the rescue system worked flawlessly. With an overload of 22 g, it tore the spacecraft from the rocket and threw it along a ballistic trajectory. The descent vehicle with the astronauts made a suborbital space flight. The landing took place in hard-to-reach areas of Altai on the edge of a cliff and only due to chance it ended happily. Cosmonauts Vasily Lazarev and Oleg Makarov survived.
On September 26, 1983, at the launch of the Soyuz-T10 spacecraft, the launch vehicle caught fire. The automatic rescue system did not work. Twelve seconds after the appearance of the flame, the launch personnel pressed the ejection button (this process can be started only on condition that two people each press their own button: the first is responsible for the rocket, the second for the ship. These two saved the crew by simultaneously pressing the system start buttons salvation). The capsule with cosmonauts Vladimir Titov and Gennady Strekalov was shot off from the rocket with an overload of 15-18 g and safely sank away from the launch complex, at a distance of 4 km from the rocket, which exploded 2 seconds (more precisely, 1.8 s) after separation capsules. The Cosmonaut Emergency Rescue System (SASK), developed under the leadership of Academician Zhukov, saved the lives of the cosmonauts. During that September launch, the cosmonauts did not receive any awards or titles. The official Soviet press ignored this episode.
January 27, 1967 During ground preparation for the upcoming launch to the Moon, a fire broke out on the American Apollo spacecraft from an accidental electric spark. Neither astronauts W. Grissom, E. White and R. Chaffee, nor the ground services had time to do anything. This is the first officially announced loss.
January 28, 1986 Biggest tragedy: Challenger exploded after 75 seconds of flight. Millions of people who watched this launch on TV saw a fireball explode at an altitude of about 16 km above the Earth. Seven astronauts were killed, including teacher Christa McAuliffe.
July 23, 1999 Five seconds after the start of the American spacecraft Columbia due to a short circuit, the electronic control units of two of the three main engines of the ship went out of order. The crew was saved from the accident by the composure of the first female shuttle commander, Ailen Collins, and the multiple redundancy of all major systems of the spacecraft.
Vladimir Komarov was faced with an almost impossible task - to manually land an unguided ship on Earth. All negotiations with a friend in orbit were conducted by Yuri Gagarin - he was the last one to communicate with Komarov. We reproduce the original recording of their talks: "Rubin, I am Zarya, as you hear me, welcome." Komarov: “I am Rubin, I can hear you perfectly. I can not open the left half of the battery, only the right battery is open, reception. " This is the first report of an astronaut. And the conversation before landing: Gagarin: "It's okay, I'm Zarya." Komarov: "I understand you." Gagarin: "Get ready for the final operations, take a closer look, calmer, now there will be an automatic descent with a lunar orientation, normal, real." Komarov: "I understand you." Gagarin: "I am Zarya, how you feel, how are you, welcome." Komarov: "It's okay, I'm Rubin, welcome." Gagarin: "I understand you." Komarov: “I am in the middle seat, tied with belts” Gagarin: “Here comrades recommend breathing deeper. We are waiting at landing. " Komarov: "Tell everyone thanks ...".
At this, the connection was cut off - the ship entered the Earth's atmosphere. The descent vehicle was going to land. The ship was spotted from search aircraft, and the pilots reported: "We see the device, it is landing, the pilot chute has opened." Then a painful silence before the fatal: "It is burning on Earth." What were the last minutes of Vladimir Komarov's life, no one will ever know - the on-board tape recorder melted, the logbook burned out. The most widespread legend that the pilots of search planes heard the obscene abuse of the astronaut does not stand up to criticism: communication was possible only through the antennas on the lines of the main parachute, which never opened ...
When, on the night of April 25, Komarov's remains were brought to the hospital. Burdenko, Air Marshal K. Vershinin came there to see for himself whether or not a solemn farewell to the deceased is possible. Seeing what was left of the astronaut, the marshal gave the command to cremate the remains immediately ...
The causes of the Soyuz disaster were investigated by a commission headed by D. Ustinov, who at that time was in charge of space exploration. The official version was: "A confluence of a number of factors of a random nature." The cosmonauts of the first detachment were told about the reasons for the death of their comrade at a special meeting with a screening of documentary footage of the tragedy. They had to be ready for any situation ... And the cause of the tragedy was purely technical: the pilot parachute was not able (it simply did not have enough power) to pull out the main one, which was stuck, since the pressure was compressed by the container walls, which were not rigid enough. The designers who developed the ship's parachute compartment and the creators of the parachute system itself were found guilty. The chief designer and head of the Institute of Parachute Systems F. Tkachev was removed from their posts, one of the deputies, V. Mishin, was punished.
A year and a half after the death of Vladimir Komarov, Soyuz again flew into space with Georgy Beregov on board. And six months later, in January 1969, two ships managed to dock in orbit, and two cosmonauts, E. Khrunov and A. Eliseev, crossed open space from one Soyuz to another. They accomplished what they had to do on that tragic flight. Since 1971, the Soyuz never let down, the Americans recognized this ship as the oldest, but most reliable spacecraft, unlike their Shuttle.
According to the plans, the Soyuz should still fly until at least 2014. In the history of world cosmonautics, there has not been, no, and it is unlikely that a spaceship will ever appear that would have a half-century life, which Vladimir Komarov gave him in exchange for his ...
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 victims were directly the pilots of the spacecraft. The saddest thing is that most of the accidents could have been avoided, but fate decreed otherwise.
Apollo 1
Death toll: 3
Official reason: spark from short circuit in poorly insulated wiring
The world's first fatal space disaster occurred on January 27, 1967 with American astronauts during a training session in the command module of the Apollo 1 mission spacecraft.
In 1966, the moon race was in full swing between the two superpowers. Thanks to spy satellites, the United States knew about the construction of spaceships in the USSR, which, possibly, will deliver Soviet cosmonauts to the moon. The development of the Apollo ships, in this regard, was carried out in great haste. Because of this, the quality of technology naturally suffered as well. The launch of two unmanned versions of AS-201 and AS-202 successfully took place in 1966, and the first manned flight to the moon was scheduled for February 1967. The Apollo command module was delivered to Cape Canaverall for crew training. The problems started from the very beginning. The module was seriously underdeveloped, and dozens of engineering corrections were made right on the spot.
On January 27, a planned simulation training was to take place in the module to test the operability of all onboard instruments of the ship. Instead of air, oxygen and nitrogen were charged into the cabin in a ratio of 60% to 40%. The training began at one o'clock in the afternoon. It went through with constant malfunctions - there were problems with communication, and the astronauts constantly felt the smell of burning, as it turned out, due to a short circuit in the wiring. At 18:31, one of the cosmonauts shouted over the intercom: “Fire in the cockpit! I'm on fire! " Fifteen seconds later, unable to withstand the pressure, the module burst. The cosmodrome employees who came running could not help in any way - the cosmonauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee died on the spot from numerous burns.
Soyuz-1
Death toll: 1
Official reason: Parachute braking system failure / spacecraft manufacturing flaws
On April 23, 1967, a grandiose event was scheduled - the first ever launch of a Soviet spacecraft of the Soyuz series. According to the plan, Soyuz-1 was launched first with pilot 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 go 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 ionic orientation system was unstable, and the solar-star 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 to braking. Thanks to his professionalism, Komarov practically manually oriented the ship and successfully entered the atmosphere.
After the spacecraft left orbit, a braking impulse was given and an emergency disconnection of the compartments was made. However, at the last stage of the landing of the descent vehicle, the main and reserve braking 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 device was completely destroyed in the collision. Vladimir Komarov was killed. It was not possible to establish the reason for the failure of the parachute braking system.
Soyuz 11
Death toll: 3
Official reason: premature opening of the ventilation valve and further depressurization of the cabin
1971 year. The USSR lost the lunar race, but in response created orbital stations, where in the future it was possible to stay for months and engage in research. The world's first expedition to an orbital station was successfully completed. The crew 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. there was a disconnection of the compartments. At the same time, the ventilation valve involuntarily opened, which was supposed to open at an altitude of 2 km. The cabin began to fill with fog, which condensed due to the pressure drop. After 30 seconds, the astronauts lost consciousness. After another 2 minutes, the pressure dropped to 50 mm. rt. Art. Since the astronauts were not wearing spacesuits, they died of suffocation.
Despite the fact that the crew did not answer the MCC's questions, the entry into the atmosphere, braking and landing were successful. After this tragic incident, the Soyuz pilots were required to be supplied with spacesuits.
Shuttle Challenger
Death toll: 7
The official reason: a gas leak in the elements of a solid propellant booster
The mid-1980s were a real triumph for the US Space Shuttle program. Successful missions took place one after another at unusually short intervals, sometimes no more than 17 days. The STS-51-L Challenger mission was significant for two reasons. Firstly, it broke the previous record, since the interval between missions was only 16 days. Secondly, the Challenger crew included a school teacher whose task was to teach a lesson from orbit. This program was supposed to generate interest in space travel, which has subsided a little in recent years.
On January 28, 1986, the Kennedy Space Center was packed with thousands of spectators and journalists. The live broadcast was watched by about 20% of the country's population. The shuttle soared into the air to the shouts of an admiring audience. Everything went well in the beginning, but then black smoke was visible emanating from the right solid propellant booster, and then a torch of fire appeared emanating from it.
After a few seconds, the flames became significantly larger due to the combustion of the leaked liquid hydrogen. After about 70 seconds, the destruction of the external fuel tank began, followed by a sharp explosion and disconnection of the orbiter cabin. During the fall of the cabin, the astronauts remained alive and conscious, they even made attempts to restore the energy supply. But nothing helped. As a result of the impact of the orbiter's cabin on the water, at a speed of 330 km / h, all crew members died on the spot.
After the explosion of the shuttle, numerous cameras continued to film what was happening. The lenses caught the faces of shocked people, among whom were the relatives of all seven dead astronauts. This is how one of the most tragic reports in the history of television was filmed. After the disaster, a shuttle service was banned for a period of 32 months. The system of solid-fuel boosters was also improved, and a parachute rescue system was installed on all shuttles.
Shuttle Columbia
Death toll: 7
Official reason: damage to the thermal insulation layer on the wing of the apparatus
On February 1, shuttle Columbia successfully returned to Earth after a successful space mission. At the beginning, the entry into the atmosphere went in a regular manner, but later the heat sensor on the left wing transmitted an anomalous value to the MCC. A piece of thermal insulation broke off from the outer skin, as a result of which the thermal protection system failed. After that, at least four sensors of the ship's hydraulic system went off scale, and literally 5 minutes later, the connection with the shuttle was cut off. While the MCC personnel were trying to contact Columbia and find out what happened to the sensors, one of the employees saw the shuttle already falling to pieces on the air. The entire crew of 7 people died.
This tragedy dealt a serious blow to the prestige of American astronautics. The shuttle flight was 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 Space Shuttle program. The Americans were forced to turn to Russia with a request to transport astronauts to the ISS on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
Almost 33 years ago, on January 28, 1986, one of the first major disasters in the history of manned space flight happened - the crash of the Challenger shuttle during launch (before that, 3 Soviet cosmonauts died in 1971 when landing Soyuz-11 - Hi-tech ). On board were military pilots Francis Scooby and Michael Smith, engineers Allison Onizuka and Gregory Jervis, physicist Ronald McNair, astronaut Judith Resnick and teacher Christa McAuliffe. Each of the 73 seconds of the shuttle flight of the deceased STS-51L mission was reviewed by experts numerous times. The exact cause of death of the astronauts has remained a mystery, but experts are inclined to believe that the astronauts were still alive when the cabin hit the ocean surface at a speed of over 320 km / h. Their death was a tragedy not only for the United States, but for the whole world. Moreover, it destroyed the belief of hundreds of people in the inviolability and safety of space missions.
On January 28, 1986, US President Ronald Reagan interrupted his message to Congress to announce to the citizens of America that the Challenger shuttle had exploded in the atmosphere. The whole country was grieving over the catastrophe. Reagan expressed his condolences to the relatives of the victims, but nevertheless noted that such expeditions and discoveries could not be imagined without significant mortal risks for the testers. So what happened?
Challenger crew
The Challenger was supposed to take off on January 24, 1986, but due to a dust storm at the Senegalese airport, in the place of a possible emergency landing, the flight was postponed.
During the morning check of the shuttle's condition, the linemen could not help but notice the icicles hanging from the bottom. On the night of January 27-28, it got colder to –2 ° C. This fact could not go unnoticed by the developers of solid-fuel boosters for the shuttle. In such climatic conditions, the fiber of the intersection seals lost its elasticity and could not provide sufficient tightness at the joints of the ship's sections. The specialists immediately reported their concerns to NASA.
Icicles on the bottom of the shuttle on the day of the crash
On the night of January 28, under pressure from representatives of the Marshall Center, the management of Morton Thiokol gave guarantees that the damage to the seals was no more critical than during previous flights. Such frivolity cost not only the lives of seven astronauts, the total destruction of the ship and the collapse of the mission, which cost $ 1.3 billion to launch, but also led to the freeze of the Space Shuttle program for three long years. The commission, which examined all the materials related to the crash, ruled that the main cause of the disaster should be considered "deficiencies in the corporate culture and decision-making procedures of NASA."
Almost immediately after launch, gray smoke appeared from the junction of the tail and second sections of the space system's right-hand solid-propellant accelerator due to the formed ice crust. At 59 seconds, at full speed, the shuttle developed a fiery tail. Both the aircraft commander and the mission control center had time to take emergency measures. But Francis Scooby, the ship's commander, was unable to timely notice and assess the emerging danger, and the flight leaders were most likely simply afraid to take full responsibility. At the 65th second of the flight, a fuel leak began due to the ignition of the fuel tank. On the 73rd second of the flight, the lower strut of the right accelerator came off and, tilting, the hull itself tore off the right wing of the Challenger and pierced the oxygen tank. This led to an explosion.
Space shuttle Challenger design
The components of liquid hydrogen and oxygen mixed and ignited, creating a ball of flame in the air. The shuttle itself was still gaining altitude, but no longer yielded to control. When the fuel tank collapsed, the shuttle could no longer gain altitude. The tail, both wings and part of the engine were detached. The blast wave was ripped off the front part of the "Challenger", where the crew was, and it soared 20 km upward. The deck continued its fall with four living astronauts. In an attempt to escape, they used backup breathing apparatus. The entire bow of the ship separated from the hull of the ship, and the heavy structure of the shuttle collapsed into the water. The conclusion of the NASA doctors says: the team may have lost consciousness due to the loss of pressure in the module during the flight.
After the disaster, the US government urgently began searching for the wreckage of the shuttle in the ocean. Even a nuclear submarine took part in the search work. NASA lost about $ 8 billion.
Judith Reznik, astronaut, crew member of the Challenger
Space Shuttle Mission History
The flights were carried out from April 12, 1981 to July 21, 2011. A total of five shuttles were built: Columbia (burned out while braking in the atmosphere before landing in 2003), Challenger (crashed during launch in 1986), Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavor. Also in 1975, the prototype ship Enterprise was built, but it was never launched into space.
Script repetition
Space shuttle Columbia crashed while landing on February 1, 2003. There were seven crew members on board, all of whom were killed. On January 16, 2003, as Space Shuttle Columbia was ascending into orbit, a piece of the flying rocket skin crashed into the front of the wing with devastating force. High-speed camera footage showed a piece of heat-resistant foam coming off the skin and into the wing. Further, after examining the records, scientists came to the conclusion that this could lead to damage to the integrity of the heat-shielding layer. But a thorough analysis was not carried out - human negligence again intervened in the space mission.
When Columbia entered the area of the heaviest landing loads, the thermal protection at the site of damage began to crumble. In this part of the wing there were landing gears. The tires exploded from overheating, a powerful jet of hot gas hit, the wing completely collapsed, and after that the whole ship began to fall apart. Without a wing, the Columbia spun and lost control. From the beginning of the collapse of the cockpit to the death of the crew, only 41 seconds passed.
The second large-scale disaster finally undermined the credibility of the Space Shuttle program, and it was closed. On July 21, 2011, the Atlantis ship completed the last expedition in the history of the project. Since this period, the one-off Russian Soyuz have become the sole guide of astronauts to the ISS.
Space shuttle Columbia went into space 28 once. He spent in space 300,74 days, made during this time 4 808 revolutions around the Earth and flew in total 201,5 million km A large number of experiments in the fields of chemistry, medicine and biology were carried out on board the shuttle.
Destroyed "Union"
The first fatal disaster in the history of astronautics was the death of pilot Vladimir Komarov during the landing of the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz-1. It all went wrong from the start. Soyuz-1 was supposed to dock with Soyuz-2 to return the crew of the first ship, however, due to malfunctions, the start of the second was canceled.
When the ship was already in orbit, the solar battery was malfunctioning. The commander was ordered to return to Earth. The pilot tried to land almost by hand.
In total, during space launches and test studies, including in the atmosphere, more than 350 man, only astronauts - 170 Human.
The landing took place in the normal mode, but at the last stage of landing, the main braking parachute did not open. The spare one opened, but got entangled in the lines, and the ship crashed into the ground at a speed of 50 m / s, tanks with hydrogen peroxide exploded, the astronaut died instantly. Soyuz-1 burned to the ground, the pilot's body was so badly burned that experts could hardly identify the fragments.
After the incident, further implementation of the Soyuz manned spacecraft launch program was postponed for 18 months, and many design modifications were made. The official cause of the accident was called a flaw in the technology of opening the brake parachute.
Soviet pilot-cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov
The next lost Soyuz was Soyuz-11. The purpose of the ship's crew was to dock with the Salyut-1 orbital station and carry out a number of works on board. The crew completed their tasks within 11 days. When the headquarters recorded a serious fire, the board was ordered to return to Earth.
All processes - entry into the atmosphere, braking, and landing - were carried out flawlessly, but the crew stubbornly did not contact the flight control center. By the time the ship's hatch was opened, all the crew members were already dead. They became victims of decompression sickness: when the ship depressurized at high altitude, the pressure dropped sharply to a lethal level. Spacesuits were not included in the ship's design. Decompression sickness is accompanied by unbearable pain, and the astronauts simply could not report on the problem.
Decompression (decompression sickness)- a disease that occurs when the pressure of the inhaled air decreases, in which gases enter the blood in the form of bubbles, thereby destroying the blood vessels, cell walls and leading to blockage of blood flow.
After this tragic accident, all Soyuz were equipped with spacesuits in case of emergency situations.
The first space accident
In 2009, the first space accident occurred - two satellites collided. Iridium 33 collided with the Russian satellite Kosmos-2251, according to an official statement from Iridium, which was circulated to news agencies. The latter was launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome back in 1993 and stopped working two years after that.
Rescued astronauts
Of course, not all accidents in space have resulted in the death of people. In 1971, the Soyuz-10 spacecraft was launched to the Salyut orbital station with an expedition for a 24-day stay in orbit. During the docking, damage to the docking unit was discovered; the cosmonauts were unable to board the station and returned to Earth.
And just four years later, in 1975, the Soyuz spacecraft did not enter orbit for docking with the Salyut-4 spacecraft due to an accident when the rocket's third stage was turned on. The Soyuz landed in Altai, near the border with China and Mongolia. The cosmonauts Vasily Lazarev and Oleg Makarov were found the next day.
Of the latest unsuccessful flight experiences, one can single out the accident that happened on October 11, 2018. It happened during the launch of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle with the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft. Nine minutes after launch, a breakdown message was sent to the control center. The crew made an emergency landing. The reasons for what happened are still being clarified, it is possible that the second stage engines were turned off. The Russian-American crew was evacuated in an escape pod.
Dangerous not only in the sky
Cosmic catastrophes occur on earth, claiming much more lives. These are missile launch accidents.
On March 18, 1980, the Vostok rocket was being prepared for launch at the Plesetsk cosmodrome. The rocket was fueled with various fuels - nitrogen, kerosene and liquid oxygen. While pouring hydrogen peroxide into the fuel tank, 300 tons of fuel detonated. A terrible fire took the lives of 44 people. Four more died from the received burns, 39 people were injured.
The commission blamed everything on the cosmodrome employees, who were negligent in the maintenance of the rocket. Only 16 years later, an independent investigation was carried out, which resulted in the use of hazardous materials in the design of fuel filters for hydrogen peroxide.
A similar tragedy happened in 2003 in Brazil at the Alcantara cosmodrome. The rocket exploded at the launch site during final tests, killing 21 people and injuring 20 more. The rocket was Brazil's third unsuccessful attempt to send a launch vehicle into space with a research satellite.
Explosion site at the Alcantara cosmodrome.
The Soviet designer and "father" of Russian cosmonautics Sergei Pavlovich Korolev said: "Cosmonautics has an infinite future, and its prospects are infinite, like the Universe itself." And already today, engineers are developing space drones for efficient operation in near-earth orbits in order to avoid the human factor - a common cause of large-scale disasters in space. Humanity is already living in anticipation of flights to Mars, the first of which is scheduled for 2030. And the safety of the space industry is an important point in the development of this mission.
Incredible facts
In the recently released space thriller "Gravity", viewers have the opportunity to watch the terrifying situation when the astronauts played Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, blows away into space.
A catastrophe occurs due to the fact that space debris incapacitates the space shuttle.
Although this situation is fictitious, the likelihood of death and destruction is very real. Here are the biggest disasters in the history of space flight.
1. Soyuz-1 and the death of cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov in 1967
First fatal disaster in the history of space flight occurred in 1967 with a Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov on board Soyuz-1, which died on landing when the spacecraft's descent vehicle crashed into the ground.
According to various sources, the cause of the tragedy was parachute system failure... We can only guess what happened during the last minutes.
On impact on the ground, the onboard tape recorder melted, and the astronaut, most likely, died instantly from incredible overloads. Only a few charred remains of the body remained.
2. Soyuz-11: death in space
Another tragic ending in the Soviet space program occurred on June 30, 1971, when the cosmonauts Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Victor Patsaev died returning to Earth from the Salyut-1 space station.
Investigation showed that during the descent of Soyuz 11, the breathing valve, which normally opens before landing, worked earlier, causing the astronauts to asphyxia.
The pressure drop in the descent vehicle exposed the crew the impact of outer space... The cosmonauts were without spacesuits, since the descent vehicle was not designed for three people.
Already 22 seconds after 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 blocked the vessels.
3. Disaster of the shuttle Challenger
January 28, 1986 NASA Space Shuttle Challenger exploded live shortly after the start.
The launch caught everyone's attention as a teacher went into orbit for the first time. 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 see it.
The investigation revealed that due to the cold temperature on the day of launch, there was a problem with the O-ring, which destroyed the mount.
As a result of the disaster, all seven crew members died, and the shuttle program was closed until 1988.
4. Disaster of the shuttle "Columbia"
17 years after the Challenger tragedy, the shuttle program suffered another loss when the Columbia spacecraft collapsed upon entering the dense layers of the atmosphere February 1, 2003 by the end of the STS-107 mission.
The investigation showed that the cause of death was foam fragments, which damaged the shuttle's thermal insulation coating, creating a hole with a diameter of about 20 cm.
Found ship wreck
All seven crew members could have escaped, but quickly passed out and died while the shuttle continued to fall to pieces.
5. Mission Apollo: fire on Apollo 1
Although not a single astronaut died during the Apollo missions, two fatal accidents occurred in the course of related activities. Three astronauts: Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee died during the ground test of the command module, which occurred on January 27, 1967. During training, a fire broke out in the cockpit, which caused the astronauts to suffocate, and their bodies were burned.
The investigation revealed a few mistakes including the use of pure oxygen in the cockpit, flammable Velcro fasteners and an inward-opening hatch that prevented the crew from getting out quickly.
Prior to the test, the three astronauts were worried about the upcoming training and were photographed in front of the model ship.
The accident led to many changes and improvements to future missions, thanks to which the first landing on the moon was later carried out.
6. Apollo 13: "Houston, we have a problem"
The Apollo 13 mission has clearly demonstrated the dangers that lie in wait for humans in space.
The launch of the spacecraft took place on April 11, 1970 at 13 hours 13 minutes. During the flight, there was oxygen tank explosion that damaged the service module, disrupting the plans to land on the moon.
Damaged Apollo 13 Service Module
To return to Earth, astronauts had to fly around the moon using its gravity. During the explosion, the astronaut Jack Swygert over the radio he said, "Houston, we had a problem." Subsequently, in the famous Hollywood movie "Apollo 13" it was changed to the now famous quote: " Houston we have a problem".
7. Lightning strikes and taiga: Apollo 12 and Voskhod-2
Both the Soviet space program and NASA had some pretty interesting, though not catastrophic, incidents. In 1969, during the launch of Apollo 12, lightning struck the spaceship twice at the 36th and 52nd seconds after the start. 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 performed.
But there was a small incident during landing due to the delay caused by the additional orbit around the Earth. In this case, the place of return to the atmosphere was shifted.
Alexey Leonov and Pavel Belyaev on board the ship landed in the deep taiga about 30 km from the town of Bereznyaki, Perm region. The cosmonauts spent two days in the taiga, after which they were found by rescuers.