Space disasters challenger and all the others. The death of the Challenger

In the mid-1980s, the American space program was at the height of its power. After winning the “lunar race,” the United States established its opinion of its unconditional leadership in space.

Another proof of this was the space exploration program using the Space Shuttle. Space shuttles, which began operation in 1981, made it possible to launch large number payload, return failed vehicles from orbit, and also carry out flights with a crew of up to 7 people. No other country in the world had similar technologies at that time.

Unlike the USSR, the US manned program did not experience accidents with human casualties during flights. More than 50 expeditions in a row ended successfully. Both the country's leadership and ordinary people have the opinion that the reliability of American space technology serves as an absolute guarantee of safety.

The idea arose that in the new conditions, anyone who had normal health and had completed a not too difficult and long course of training could fly into space.

"Teacher in Space"

U US President Ronald Reagan the idea came up to send an ordinary person into space school teacher. The teacher was supposed to teach several lessons from orbit to increase children's interest in mathematics, physics, geography, as well as science and space exploration.

The “Teacher in Space” competition was announced in the USA, which received 11 thousand applications. There were 118 candidates in the second round, two from each state and dependent areas.

The final results of the competition were announced solemnly in the White House. US Vice President George W. Bush July 19, 1985 announced: the winner was 37-year-old Sharon Christa McAuliffe, second place was taken by the 34-year-old Barbara Morgan. Krista became the main candidate for the flight, Barbara became her backup.

Christa McAuliffe, a mother of two who taught at high school history, English language and biology, while the results of the competition were announced, she cried with happiness. Her dream came true.

To those close to her, whose pride in Krista alternated with anxiety, she explained: “This is NASA, even if something goes wrong, they will be able to fix everything at the last moment.”

After completing a three-month training program, Christa McAuliffe was included in the crew of the Challenger spacecraft, which was scheduled to go into orbit in January 1986.

Anniversary start

The Challenger flight was supposed to be the anniversary, the 25th launch within the Space Shuttle program. Experts sought to increase the number of expeditions into orbit - after all, fabulous money was allocated for the project with the expectation that over time the shuttles would pay off and begin to make a profit. In order to achieve this, it was planned to reach a rate of 24 flights per year by 1990. That is why the program managers were extremely irritated by the words of specialists about serious shortcomings in the design of the ships. Minor faults had to be eliminated almost before every start, and there were fears that sooner or later everything could end in big trouble.

In addition to Christa McAuliffe, the STS-51L crew included Commander Francis Scobie, first pilot Michael Smith as well as astronauts Allison Onizuka, Judith Resnick, Ronald McNair And Gregory Jarvis.

Challenger crew. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Besides school lessons from orbit, the mission program included launching satellites into orbit and observing Halley's Comet.

Initially, the launch from the Cape Canaveral spaceport was scheduled for January 22, but then was postponed several times until new date The day passed away on January 28th.

That morning there was also a suspicion that the flight would have to be rescheduled - it was very cold in Florida, the temperature dropped below zero, and icing appeared at the launch site. The management decided not to cancel the start, but simply postpone it by a couple of hours. Upon a new inspection, it turned out that the ice had begun to melt, and the go-ahead was given for the start.

"Critical Situation"

The final launch was scheduled for 11:38 local time on January 28, 1986. Relatives and friends of the astronauts, colleagues and students of Christa McAuliffe gathered at the cosmodrome, waiting for the moment when the first teacher would go on a space journey.

At 11:38 a.m., Challenger lifted off from Cape Canaveral. In the stands where the audience was, rejoicing began. TV camera close up showed the faces of Christa McAuliffe's parents as they saw off their daughter on the flight - they smiled, happy that their girl's dream had become a reality.

The announcer commented on everything that happened at the cosmodrome.

52 seconds after launch, the Challenger began its maximum acceleration. The ship's commander, Francis Scobie, confirmed the start of acceleration. These were last words, sounded from the board of the shuttle.

At the 73rd second of the flight, spectators watching the launch saw the Challenger disappear in a white cloud of explosion.

At first the spectators did not understand what had happened. Someone was scared, someone applauded in admiration, believing that everything was happening according to the flight program.

The announcer also seemed to think everything was fine. “1 minute 15 seconds. The ship's speed is 2900 feet per second. Flew a distance of nine nautical miles. The height above the ground is seven nautical miles,” the presenter continued to say.

As it turned out later, the announcer was not looking at the monitor screen, but was reading a previously drawn up launch script. A couple of minutes later, he announced a “critical situation,” and then said the terrible words: “The Challenger exploded.”

No chance of salvation

But by this moment the audience had already understood everything - in Atlantic Ocean Debris fell from the sky from what had recently been the most advanced spacecraft in the world.

A search and rescue operation was launched, although it was initially called a rescue operation only formally. The ships of the Space Shuttle project, unlike the Soviet Soyuz, were not equipped with emergency rescue systems that could save the lives of astronauts during launch. The crew was doomed.

The operation to recover debris that fell into the Atlantic Ocean continued until May 1, 1986. In total, about 14 tons of debris were recovered. About 55% shuttle, 5% cabin and 65% payload remained at the bottom of the ocean.

The cabin with the astronauts was raised on March 7. It turned out that after the destruction of the ship's structures, the stronger cabin survived and continued to rise upward for several seconds, after which it began to fall from a great height.

It was not possible to establish the exact moment of death of the astronauts, but it is known that at least two - Allison Onizuka and Judith Resnik - survived the moment of the disaster. Experts discovered that they had turned on personal air supply devices. What happened next depends on whether the cabin was depressurized after the destruction of the shuttle. Since personal devices do not supply air under pressure, the crew soon lost consciousness when depressurized.

If the cabin remained sealed, then the astronauts died when they hit the surface of the water at a speed of 333 km/h.

American "maybe"

America experienced the deepest shock. Flights under the Space Shuttle program were suspended indefinitely. To investigate the crash, US President Ronald Reagan appointed a special commission led by Secretary of State William Rogers.

The conclusions of the Rogers Commission were no less a blow to NASA's prestige than the disaster itself. Shortcomings were cited as the decisive factor leading to the tragedy corporate culture and decision-making procedures.

Destruction aircraft was caused by damage to the o-ring of the right solid propellant booster during launch. Damage to the ring caused a hole to burn out in the side of the accelerator, from which a jet stream flowed towards the external fuel tank. This led to the destruction of the tail mount of the right solid rocket booster and the supporting structures of the external fuel tank. Elements of the complex began to shift relative to each other, which led to its destruction as a result of abnormal aerodynamic loads.

As an investigation showed, NASA had known about defects in the o-rings since 1977, long before the first flight of the Space Shuttle program. But instead of making the necessary changes, NASA treated the problem as an acceptable risk of equipment failure. That is, to put it simply, the department’s specialists, hypnotized by past successes, hoped for an American “maybe.” This approach cost the lives of 7 astronauts, not to mention billions of dollars in financial losses.

21 years later

The Space Shuttle program was resumed after 32 months, but the previous confidence in it was no longer there. There was no longer any talk about payback and profit. The year 1985 remained a record year for the program, when 9 flights were made, and after the death of the Challenger, plans to increase the number of launches to 25-30 per year were no longer remembered.

After the disaster on January 28, 1986, NASA closed the Teacher in Space program and Christa McAuliffe's understudy, Barbara Morgan, returned to teaching school. However, everything she experienced made the teacher dream of finishing the job she started. In 1998, she re-enlisted as an astronaut and in 2002 was assigned as a flight specialist on the shuttle STS-118, which was scheduled to fly to the ISS in November 2003.

However, on February 1, 2003, the second shuttle disaster occurred - the Columbia spacecraft with 7 astronauts on board died during descent from orbit. Barbara Morgan's flight was postponed.

And yet she went into space. On August 8, 2007, 21 years after the loss of Challenger, teacher Barbara Morgan reached orbit on the USS Endeavor. During her flight, she conducted several communications with school classes, including the McCall-Donnelly School, where she taught for a long time. Thus, she completed a project that was not destined to be realized in 1986.

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 the 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 spaceship pilots directly became victims. The saddest thing is that most accidents could have been avoided, but fate decreed otherwise.

Apollo 1

Death toll: 3

Official cause: spark due to short circuit in poorly insulated wiring

The world's first space disaster fatal occurred on January 27, 1967 to American astronauts during training in the command module of the Apollo 1 mission.

In 1966, the lunar race between the two superpowers was in full swing. Thanks to spy satellites, the United States knew about the construction of spaceships 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, the quality of technology naturally suffered. The launch of two unmanned versions AS-201 and AS-202 successfully occurred 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 flawed, and dozens of engineering adjustments were made right on the spot.

On January 27, a planned simulation training was scheduled to take place in the module to test the functionality of all the ship’s onboard instruments. Instead of air, the cabin was filled with oxygen and nitrogen in a ratio of 60% to 40%. The training began at one o'clock in the afternoon. It was carried out with constant malfunctions - there were problems with communication, and the astronauts constantly smelled a burning smell, 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 cabin! I'm burning! Fifteen seconds later, unable to withstand the pressure, the module burst. The cosmodrome employees who came running were unable to help - cosmonauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee died on the spot from numerous burns.

Soyuz-1

Death toll: 1

Official reason: failure of the braking parachute system/defects in the production of the spacecraft

On April 23, 1967, a grandiose event was planned - 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 outer space the ships were supposed to dock, and Eliseev and Khrunov were to transfer to Soyuz-1. In words everything sounded great, 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 abandoned urgently. The Soyuz 2 flight was canceled, and Vladimir Komarov was ordered to return to Earth. They also arose here serious problems. Due to systems failure and a shift in the center of mass, it was impossible to orient the ship to braking. Thanks to his professionalism, Komarov oriented the ship almost manually and successfully entered the atmosphere.

After the ship left orbit, a deceleration pulse was applied and the compartments were emergency disconnected. However, on last stage During the landing of the descent vehicle, the main and reserve drogue parachutes did not open. At a speed of about 150 km/h, the descent module crashed into the surface of the Earth in the Adamovsky region Orenburg region and caught fire. The device was completely destroyed in the collision. Vladimir Komarov died. The cause of the failure of the braking parachute system could not be determined.

Soyuz-11

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 it created orbital stations, where in the future it would be possible to stay for months and do research. The world's first expedition to the 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. compartments were disconnected. At the same time, the ventilation valve, which was supposed to open at an altitude of 2 km, involuntarily opened. The cabin began to fill with fog, which condensed due to a drop in pressure. 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 from suffocation.

Despite the fact that the crew did not answer questions from the Mission Control Center, the entry into the atmosphere, braking and landing were successful. After this tragic incident, Soyuz pilots began to be provided with spacesuits without fail.

Shuttle Challenger

Death toll: 7

Official reason: gas leak in solid fuel accelerator elements

The mid-1980s were a real triumph for the American Space Shuttle program. Successful missions took place one after another in unusually short intervals, which sometimes amounted to no more than 17 days. The Challenger mission STS-51-L was significant for two reasons. Firstly, it broke the previous record, as the interval between missions was only 16 days. Secondly, the Challenger crew included a schoolteacher whose task was to teach a lesson from orbit. This program was intended to arouse interest in space flights, which in recent years calmed down a bit.

January 28, 1986 space center Kennedy was overflowing with thousands of spectators and journalists. About 20% of the country's population watched the live broadcast. The shuttle took off into the air to the screams of an admiring audience. At first everything went well, but then clouds of black smoke became visible coming out of the right solid rocket booster, and then a torch of fire appeared emanating from it.

After a few seconds, the flame 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, and they even made attempts to restore the power supply. But nothing helped. As a result of the orbiter cabin hitting the water at a speed of 330 km/h, all crew members died on the spot.

After the shuttle explosion, numerous cameras continued to record what was happening. The lenses captured the faces of shocked people, among whom were 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 ban on shuttle operations was introduced for a period of 32 months. The solid propellant booster system was also improved, and all shuttles began to be equipped with parachute system salvation.

Shuttle Columbia

Death toll: 7

Official reason: damage to the thermal insulation layer on the wing of the device

On February 1, the space shuttle Columbia successfully returned to Earth after a successful space mission. At the beginning, entry into the atmosphere proceeded in as usual, but later the thermal sensor on the left wing transmitted an anomalous value to the control center. A piece of thermal insulation broke off from the outer skin, causing the thermal protection system to fail. 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 lost. While the MCC staff was trying to contact Columbia and find out what happened to the sensors, one of the employees saw live the shuttle already falling to pieces. The entire crew of 7 people died.

This tragedy caused serious blow according to the prestige of American astronautics. Shuttle flights were again banned for 29 months. Subsequently, they carried out 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 Russian ships"Union".

Expensive components and the best scientific minds cannot yet guarantee one hundred percent success of any space operation: spacecraft continue to fail, fall and explode. Today people boldly talk about the colonization of Mars, but just a few decades ago any attempt to launch a ship into outer space could have turned into a terrible tragedy.

Soyuz 1: a victim of the space race

1967 The space industry lags behind the United States by two huge steps - the States have been conducting manned flights for two years, and the USSR has not had a single flight for two years. That’s why the country’s leadership was so eager to launch the Soyuz into orbit with a person on board at any cost.

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.

What's happened

Problems began immediately after entering orbit: one of the two panels did not open solar panels. The ship was experiencing a power shortage. The flight had to be aborted early. The Soyuz successfully deorbited, but during the final stage of landing the parachute system did not work. The pilot chute was unable to pull the main parachute out of the tray, and the lines of the reserve parachute that successfully emerged were wrapped around the unshot pilot chute. The final reason for the failure of the main parachute has not yet been established. Among the most common versions is a violation of technology during the production of the descent module at the factory. There is a version that due to the heating of the device, the paint on the parachute ejection tray, which was used to paint it by mistake, became sticky, and the parachute did not come out because it “stuck” to the tray. At a speed of 50 m/s, the descent module hit the ground, which led to the death of the astronaut.
This accident was the first (known) death of a person in the history of manned space flights.

Apollo 1: fire on earth

The fire occurred on January 27, 1967 during preparations for the first manned flight of the Apollo program. The entire crew died. Probable reasons There were several tragedies: an error in choosing the atmosphere (the 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. From left to right: Edward White, Virgil Grissom, Roger Chaffee.

Oxygen was preferred to oxygen-nitrogen gas mixture, since it makes the pressurized structure of the ship much lighter. However, little importance was attached to the difference in pressure during flight and during training on Earth. Some parts of the ship and elements of the astronauts' costumes became very flammable in an oxygen atmosphere at elevated pressure.

This is what the command module looked like after the fire.

Once ignited, the fire spread with incredible speed, damaging the spacesuits. The complex design of the hatch and its locks left the astronauts no chance of escape.

Soyuz-11: depressurization and lack of spacesuits

The ship's 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 cosmonauts’ return to earth. Until the discovery of the ship after landing, people on Earth did not know that the crew had died. Since the landing took place in automatic mode, the descent module landed at the designated location, without significant deviations from the plan.
The search team found the crew without signs of life; resuscitation measures did not help.

What's happened

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 approximately 150 km, the pressure in the descent module began to decrease sharply. The commission concluded that the reason for this decrease was the unauthorized opening of the ventilation valve.
This valve was supposed to open at a low altitude when the squib was detonated. It is not known for certain why the squib fired much earlier.
Presumably, this happened due to a shock wave passing through the body of the device. A shock wave, in turn, is caused by the activation of squibs separating the Soyuz compartments. It was not possible to reproduce this in ground tests. However, later the design of the ventilation valves was modified. It should be noted that the design of the Soyuz-11 spacecraft did not include spacesuits for the crew...

Challenger accident: disaster live

This tragedy became one of the loudest in the history of space exploration, thanks to live television broadcast. The American space shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986, 73 seconds after liftoff, watched by millions of spectators. All 7 crew members were killed.

What's happened

It was established that the destruction of the aircraft was caused by damage to the sealing ring of the solid rocket booster. Damage to the ring during launch led to the formation of a hole from which a jet stream began to emit. In turn, this led to the destruction of the accelerator mounting 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 rather “collapsed” due to aerodynamic overloads. The cockpit did not collapse, but most likely depressurized. The debris fell into the Atlantic Ocean. It was possible to find and raise many fragments of the shuttle, including the crew cabin. It was established that at least three crew members survived the destruction of the shuttle and were conscious, 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 have saved the crew, since it was designed for use strictly during horizontal flight. This disaster “curtailed” the shuttle program for 2.5 years. The special commission placed a high degree of blame on a lack of “corporate culture” throughout NASA, as well as a crisis in the management decision-making system. Managers have been aware of a defect in O-rings supplied by a certain supplier for 10 years...

Shuttle Columbia disaster: failed landing

The tragedy occurred on the morning of February 1, 2003, during the shuttle's return to Earth after a 16-day stay in orbit. After entering the dense layers of the atmosphere, the ship never made contact with the NASA Mission Control Center, and instead of the shuttle, its fragments appeared in the sky, falling to the ground.

What's happened

Shuttle Columbia crew: Kalpana Chawla, Richard Husband, Michael Anderson, Laurel Clark, Ilan Ramon, William McCool, David Brown.

The investigation was carried out over several months. The shuttle debris was collected over an area the size of two states. It was established that the cause of the disaster was damage to the protective layer of the shuttle wing. This damage was likely caused by a piece of oxygen tank insulation falling during the ship's launch. As with the Challenger, the tragedy could have been prevented if by volitional decision NASA leaders the crew held visual inspection ship in orbit.

There is evidence that technical specialists sent a request three times to obtain images of damage received during the launch. NASA management considered that damage from the impact of the insulating foam could not lead to serious consequences.

Apollo 13: a massive tragedy with a happy ending

This flight American astronauts is one of the most famous manned Apollo missions to the Moon. The incredible fortitude and tenacity with which thousands of people on Earth tried to bring people back from the cosmic trap were sung by writers and directors. (The most famous and detailed film about those events is Ron Howard's film Apollo 13.)

What's happened

Launch of Apollo 13.

After the standard mixing of oxygen and nitrogen in their respective tanks, the astronauts heard the sound of an impact and felt a jolt. A gas (oxygen mixture) leak from the service compartment became noticeable in the porthole. The gas cloud changed the orientation of the ship. Apollo began to lose oxygen and energy. The clock counted. A plan was adopted to use the lunar module as a lifeboat. A crew rescue headquarters was created on Earth. 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.

As the entire operation progressed, in addition to technical problems with the ship, the astronauts began to experience a crisis in their 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, and in addition there was a threat of food and water supplies freezing.
Content carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the lunar module cabin reached 13%. Thanks to clear instructions from command center the crew was able to make “filters” from scrap materials, which made it possible to bring the carbon dioxide content to acceptable values.
During the rescue operation, the crew was able to undock the engine compartment and separate the lunar module. All this had to be done practically “manually” in conditions of life support indicators close to critical. After the successful completion of these operations, pre-landing navigation still had to be performed. At incorrect setting navigation systems, the module could enter the atmosphere at the wrong angle, which would cause critical overheating of the cabin.
During the landing period, a number of countries (including the USSR) declared radio silence on 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.

Shuttle Challenger

Year: 1986

Country: USA

The gist: a spaceship with a full crew on board exploded in the air after launch

Official reason: depressurization of solid fuel accelerator elements/low-quality technology

In the mid-1980s, the Space Shuttle program experienced unprecedented growth. Successful missions followed one after another, and the launches of the devices were carried out so often that the breaks between them sometimes did not amount to more than 20 days. The Challenger STS-51-L mission was somewhat unusual: spaceship In addition to the astronauts, there was school teacher Christa McAuliffe, who, according to the idea of the “Teacher in Space” project, was supposed to teach a couple of lessons directly from space. Therefore, a huge number of people watched the broadcast of the shuttle launch on television - up to 17% of the country's population.

On the morning of January 28, the shuttle took off into the sky from Cape Canaveral, Florida, to the admiring applause of the public, but after 73 seconds it exploded, and debris falling off the ship rushed to the ground. The astronauts survived the explosion, but died upon landing when the cabin hit the water at a speed of 330 km/h.

After the explosion, the cameramen continued to film what was happening through numerous cameras, and the faces of the people who were watching the launch from the observation deck of the cosmodrome at that moment were captured in the frame. Among them were relatives of all seven crew members. This is how one of the most dramatic reports in television history was filmed.

A ban on the use of shuttles was immediately announced for 32 months. After this incident, the technology of solid rocket boosters was seriously improved, and a parachute system for rescuing astronauts was added to the shuttles.

Shuttle Columbia

Number of deaths: 7 people

Year: 2003

Country: USA

The gist: the spacecraft burned up upon re-entry with a full crew on board.

Official reason: damage to the thermal insulation layer on the wing of the device / technical staff ignoring minor problems

On the morning of February 1, the crew of the Columbia shuttle STS-107 was returning to Earth after a successful space mission. At first, the entry into the atmosphere proceeded as normal, but soon the temperature sensor on the left wing plane of the device transmitted anomalous values to the Mission Control Center. Then four sensors of the ship's hydraulic system in the same wing went off scale, and after 5 minutes communication with the ship was lost. While the MCC workers were arguing about what happened to the sensors, one of the TV channels was already showing live the silhouette of a shuttle engulfed in flames, falling apart. The entire crew died.

This tragedy hit the prestige of American astronautics so hard that a temporary ban was immediately imposed on Shuttle flights, and then US President George W. Bush announced some time later that the Space Shuttle program was technologically outdated and would be closed, and NASA resources should be directed to creation of a new manned spacecraft. It was during the moratorium on Shuttle flights in 2003 that the Americans were first forced to turn to Russia with a request to deliver astronauts to the ISS using Russian Soyuz. Coincidentally, in the same year, 9 months later, for the first time in history, the Chinese went into space, successfully carrying out a manned launch of their Shenzhou-5 spacecraft. Against the background of the tragedy with Colombia, this was perceived very painfully by the American leadership.

Apollo 1

Year: 1967

Country: USA

The gist: the crew burned to death during a simulated training session in the ship's command module

Official Cause: Spark, Short Circuit Current/Probably Poorly Insulated Wiring

In the midst of the lunar race between the superpowers, speed became the top priority. The Americans knew that the USSR was also building a lunar shuttle, and they were in a hurry to implement their Apollo program. Unfortunately, it was not only the quality of the technology that suffered from this.

In 1966, unmanned Apollo 1 launches were successfully carried out, and the first launches of the manned version of the device were planned for the end of February 1967. To begin crew training, the first version of the ship's command module was delivered to Cape Canaveral. The problems started from the very beginning - the module was seriously flawed, and the engineers made the necessary changes on the spot. Crew simulation training in the command module was scheduled for January 27; it was intended to check the performance of the devices before the conditional launch.

Virgil Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee entered the module at approximately one o'clock in the afternoon. Pure oxygen was pumped into the cabin instead of air, and soon the training began. It was carried out with constant problems - either the connection would turn off, or Grissom would notice a strange smell in the cabin, and the training had to be stopped. During the next check, the sensors detected a voltage surge (probably due to a short circuit). 10 seconds later, at 18:31 local time, White shouted through the speakers, “We have a fire in the cockpit!” Some eyewitnesses claim that cameras captured White making his way to the hatch in a desperate attempt to open it. A few seconds later, cosmodrome workers heard Chaffee shouting “I’m burning!” from the speakers, the connection was interrupted, and the module could not withstand the internal pressure and burst. The people who arrived in time could no longer help him - the entire crew was dead.

Apollo 1 cabin after fire

After the tragedy, a number of measures were taken: replacing all materials in the module with non-flammable ones, covering the wires with Teflon, replacing the hatch with a model that opens outwards, as well as changing the composition of the artificial atmosphere before launch - from pure oxygen it switched to 60%, the remaining 40 % occupied by nitrogen.

Soyuz-1

Number of deaths: 1 person

Year: 1967

Country: USSR

The bottom line: the spacecraft was unable to slow down its fall after entering the atmosphere and crashed on impact with the ground

Official reason: the main drogue parachute did not open/technology flaw or manufacturing error

On April 23, the first ever test of a manned Soyuz series spacecraft was planned. The USSR has lagged far behind the United States in recent years, while on the other side of the Atlantic new space records were being set every few months. Despite the fatal flaw in the design of the device, the leadership of the space industry decided to carry out the tests on the designated day.

Soyuz-1 with pilot Vladimir Komarov entered orbit. It was supposed to dock in space with another ship, Soyuz-2, which was supposed to be launched with its crew of three people later. However, one of the Soyuz-1 solar panels did not open, and the crew of the second ship did not fly. Komarov was ordered to return to Earth, which he did almost manually due to insufficient development of the ship's orientation capabilities.

Thanks to the professionalism of the pilot, re-entry went smoothly, but during the last stage of landing the main drogue parachute did not open. The spare one opened, but became entangled, and the ship soon crashed into the surface of the planet at a speed of 50 m/s. Komarov died.

After the incident, further implementation of the Soyuz manned launch program was postponed for 18 months, the braking system was tested on 6 unmanned launches, and many design improvements were made.

Soyuz-11

Number of deaths: 3 people

Year: 1971

Country: USSR

The bottom line: the ship's crew died during reentry due to decompression

Official reason: premature opening of the ventilation valve, depressurization of the vehicle cabin/probably a defect in valve technology

The mission of the Soyuz-11 crew was to dock with orbital station"Salyut-1" and various works on board. Despite some difficulties, the crew was able to work at the station for 11 days. Then a serious fire was detected, and the astronauts were ordered to return to Earth.

Entry into the atmosphere, braking, landing - outwardly everything went as normal, but the astronauts did not answer the questions from the Mission Control Center. When the hatch of the apparatus was opened, all crew members were dead. It soon became clear that they suffered from decompression sickness - the ship depressurized at high altitude, causing the pressure to sharply drop to an unacceptable level. There were no spacesuits in the spaceship - that was its design. Due to unbearable pain, the astronauts were unable to fix the problem in time; according to some versions, this was impossible.

After this tragedy, Soyuz pilots began to be provided with spacesuits without fail, which is why they had to launch crews of two people instead of three (the spacesuits took up a lot of space, and the Soyuz cabins were very cramped). Over time, the design was improved, and Soyuz aircraft began to fly in threes again.

These are all disasters in history associated with the flights of astronauts, or with preparation for them (in the case of"Apollo 1"). However, there is another type of tragedies that, with some reservations, can also be classified as cosmic disasters. He carried away tens of times more lives. It's about about emergency rocket launches.

Disaster at Baikonur

Death toll: 78-126

Year: 1960

Country: USSR

The essence: the ignition of the rocket fuel tanks before launch, a severe fire

Official reason: premature activation of one of the rocket engines/violation of safety measures

Just six months before Gagarin’s legendary flight, a tragedy so terrible occurred at the Baikonur Cosmodrome that all data was kept securely classified, despite the huge number of victims, and the world was able to learn about it only shortly before the collapse of the USSR, in 1989.

Due to the aggravation international relations Due to the Berlin Crisis, Khrushchev ordered the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles to be accelerated in 1959. A test of the R-16 rocket at the Plesetsk cosmodrome was scheduled for October 24, 1960. The rocket, according to many, required significant improvements, and there were debates about whether the tests should be postponed. The majority spoke in favor of continuing the work, and the head of the Strategic Missile Forces, Marshal Nedelin, who led the launch, according to eyewitnesses, responded to objections with the phrase - “What am I going to tell Nikita? ... The rocket will be finalized at the launch, the country is waiting for us.”

Nedelin and some other project participants positioned themselves just 17 meters from the rocket, giving an example that there is no need to be afraid of the launch. A 30-minute readiness was announced, but soon there was an emergency start of the second stage engine, the flame of which was able to break through the pyromembrane of the fuel tanks, which were already unready for launch. An avalanche-like fire began, waves of fire spread in all directions; eyewitnesses noted that they saw burning people running screaming from the rocket. Rescue operations began only two hours later, when the flames subsided.

On the left is the explosion of an R-16, on the right is rocket debris on the launch pad

After the tragedy, the security regime at the cosmodrome, as well as the organization of rocket launches, were seriously improved.

Missile silo fire in Searcy, Arkansas

Death toll: 53

Year: 1965

The essence: a fire in a closed missile silo

Official Cause: Oxygen leak due to damaged hydraulic hose

August 8th in one of the launchers missile silos near the settlement of Sersi, work was carried out on a modernization program Project YARD FENCE. When modernizing the 7-story shaft, it was decided to leave the intercontinental ballistic missile LGM-25C Titan-2 inside, but for safety reasons the warhead was removed.

One of the workers accidentally damaged a hydraulic hose with a cutter, and flammable liquid began to flow out of it. The fumes spread throughout the shaft, and those who felt it rushed to the upper floors, where the exit was located. Subsequently, a spontaneous fire occurred and a huge fire claimed the lives of 53 workers. Only two managed to leave the mine and escape.

The rocket never exploded and the mine was rebuilt only 13 months later.

Titan-2 rocket in the launch silo

Disaster at the Plesetsk cosmodrome

Death toll: 48

Year: 1980

Country: USSR

The gist: explosion of rocket fuel tanks before launch

Official reason: presence of catalytically active materials in fuel tank filters/negligence of the design bureau

On March 18, the Vostok rocket with the Icarus spy satellite on board was preparing to launch at the cosmodrome. There was refueling with various fuels - kerosene, liquid oxygen, nitrogen. At the last stage, refueling was carried out with hydrogen peroxide.

It was at this stage that a fire occurred, as a result of which 300 tons of fuel detonated. A huge fire started, killing 44 people on the spot. Four more died from burns, the number of surviving wounded was 39.

The commission blamed the negligence of the combat crew that carried out the launch. Only 16 years later, an independent investigation was conducted, which resulted in the use of hazardous materials in the construction of fuel filters for hydrogen peroxide being named as the cause.

Disaster at the Alcantara spaceport, Brazil

Death toll: 21

Year: 2003

Country: Brazil

The essence: a rocket explosion as a result of an unplanned launch of one of the engines

Official reason: “dangerous concentration of volatile gases, damage to sensors and electromagnetic interference” (state commission report)

The launch of the VLS-3 rocket was scheduled for August 25. The venue is the Alcantara cosmodrome in the north of the country, very convenient for spacecraft launches due to its proximity to the equator. If launched successfully, the rocket with two satellites on board would turn Brazil into the first space power Latin America. This was the country's third attempt to obtain this status, after two previous unsuccessful launches.

On August 22, final tests were carried out; about 100 people worked near the rocket. Suddenly, one of the four engines of the first stage of the rocket turned on, a fire started, and subsequently the fuel tanks exploded. The rocket and the 10-story launch pad structure were completely destroyed by the explosion.

After the incident, the Brazilian space program was temporarily paralyzed - many scientists and engineers working on the rocket were killed in the explosion, and a full-scale investigation was launched. The exact technical cause of the accident, however, has never been established.

Ruins of the launch pad at the Alcantara spaceport

Disaster at Xichang Cosmodrome, China

Death toll: 6-100

Year: 1996

Country: China

The essence: a rocket falling after launch onto a populated village

Official reason: damage to gold-aluminum wiring in one of the engines

In the second half of the 1990s, China began actively developing its own space program. It was in 1996 that an agreement was concluded between Russia and China on cooperation in the field of manned space exploration, which, according to experts, provided China with the necessary technological base for a breakthrough in the development of its space industry.

Cooperation was also carried out with the United States - in 1996, a Chinese rocket of the “Long March” family was supposed to launch an American communications satellite into orbit Intelsat 708. The launch was scheduled for February 15, local time. The Xichang Cosmodrome in southwest China was chosen as the launch site.

The rocket launched at the scheduled time, but soon began to tilt and after 22 seconds it fell on a village not far from the cosmodrome and exploded.

Commissions to investigate the incident were created in both the United States and China. And if both expert groups agreed with each other on the technical cause of the accident, then their results differed greatly in assessing the deaths. The Chinese leadership announced 6 deaths, American experts- about a hundred.

Over the relatively short history of astronautics, crashes and accidents of spacecraft have occurred both in orbit and not far from the Earth. There have been depressurizations and even collisions in space.

Juno. 50/50

Every second attempt by the Americans to launch a launch vehicle from the Juno series ended in failure. So, on July 16, 1959, Juno-2 was supposed to deliver the Explorer C-1 satellite into low-Earth orbit. Juno's mission lasted a few seconds: after launch, it almost immediately turned 180 degrees and began moving in the opposite direction, moving exactly towards the launch pad. The missile was detonated in mid-air, thereby preventing numerous casualties. To be fair, we note: with the help of Juno-1, the Americans managed to launch their first artificial Earth satellite.

Black date

June 30 is a “black” date in the history of space exploration. On this day in 1971, the Soyuz 11 crew returned to earth right on time after 23 days of work in space. In the ship's cabin, which slowly descended by parachute and landed on the ground, the bodies of the ship's commander Georgy Dobrovolsky, flight engineer Vladislav Volkov and test engineer Viktor Patsaev were found.

According to eyewitnesses, the bodies of the crew members were still warm, but attempts by doctors to resuscitate the astronauts were unsuccessful. It was later established that the tragedy occurred as a result of depressurization of the cabin. The pressure drop at an altitude of 168 kilometers in the absence of special spacesuits not provided for by the ship's design doomed the crew to terrible death. Only such a tragedy forced a radical reconsideration of the approach to ensuring the safety of Soviet cosmonauts during flight.

The crash of the "Opsnik"

Reporters from major media outlets were invited to the launch pad on December 6. They had to record the “achievements” and report them to the public, which was in a dejected state after the victories of the Land of Soviets. After the start, the Avangard gained a height of just over a meter and... fell to the ground. A powerful explosion destroyed the rocket and seriously damaged the launch pad. The next day, the front pages of the newspapers were full of headlines about the collapse of the “oopsnik” - that’s how journalists nicknamed “Vanguard”. Naturally, the demonstration of failure only increased panic in society.

Satellite collision

The first collision of artificial satellites - the Russian Cosmos-2251 and the American Iridium-33 - occurred on February 10, 2009. As a result of the complete destruction of both satellites, about 600 pieces of debris began to pose a threat to other devices operating in space, in particular, to the ISS. Fortunately, a new tragedy was avoided - in 2012, a maneuver by the Russian Zvezda module helped the ISS avoid the wreckage of Iridium-33.

No casualties

One can, perhaps, talk cynically about the “spectacle” of an explosion only in cases where human casualties are not involved. One “successful” example would be the attempt to launch a Delta 2 rocket with a military GPS satellite at Cape Canaveral.

The launch planned for January 16, 1997 had to be postponed for a day, and, despite the fact that on the 17th weather conditions did not improve, the rocket was still launched. It stayed in the air for only 13 seconds before exploding. Fiery sparks, reminiscent of fireworks, rained down on the surrounding area for some time. Fortunately, no casualties were avoided. Most of the rocket fragments fell into the ocean, others damaged the launch control center bunker and about 20 cars in the parking lot.

The Titan tragedy

The question is which country has suffered the greatest losses in the history of space exploration? financial losses, remains open today. The fact is that 1986 became a “black” year for NASA. The whole world has not yet had time to recover from tragic death crew of the space shuttle Challenger, which occurred on January 28, when a Titan 34D-9 rocket exploded during launch on April 18.

Its mission was to be part of a multi-billion dollar program to create a network of reconnaissance satellites. Additional funding was also required to eliminate the accident due to the spread of toxic self-igniting fuel components. Well, Russia lost about $90 million just last year due to the unsuccessful July launch of the Proton-M rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

A disaster on a Brazilian scale

The launch of the VLS-3 rocket could occupy leading positions in three ratings at once: “The largest number of victims”, “Unjustified hopes” and “Mysterious reasons”. Scheduled for August 25, 2003, it could make Brazil the number one space power in Latin America.

However, on August 22, during the final testing stage, one of the engines switched on inadvertently, which led to a fire and explosion of the fuel tanks. The disaster not only destroyed the rocket and the enormous launch complex, but also claimed the lives of 21 people, almost completely paralyzing the country's space program. As a result of a full-scale investigation, the exact causes of the explosion could not be established. According to the official version, the tragedy occurred due to “a dangerous concentration of volatile gases, damaged sensors and electromagnetic interference.”