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SPACE TRAGEDIES

Added on: 26th Jul 2015

 

 

BONDARENKO'S TRAINING

Valentin Bondarenko

Valentin Bondarenko, Soviet cosmonaut, died on March 23, 1961, as the

first space-related fatality. Bondarenko accidentally dropped an

alcohol-soaked cotton ball onto an electric hotplate he was using

to brew tea while training in a high-oxygen, low-pressure chamber.

The cotton ball quickly ignited along with the oxygen in the

surrounding atmosphere. Though a monitoring doctor pulled him out

(after nearly a thirty minute delay to pressurize), Bondarenko later

died in hospital from severe third-degree burns. His death was

covered up by the Soviet government to those in the West until

nearly twenty years later. Lessons learned from his death may have

prevented Apollo 1’s fire.

 

 

T-38 CRASH

NASA T-38 CC

During a training jet run, American pilots Elliot See and Charles Bassett

died on February 28, 1966, when their Northrop T-38 Talon crashed in

St. Louis, Missouri. Poor visibility led to an initial overshooting of the

runway. Pilot See changed to a visual circling approach, using instruments

to bring the craft down. After dropping too quickly and too far from the

runway, See activated the afterburner to boost power. He pulled the

plane right where it struck the room of McDonnell Building 101 before

cartwheeling and crashing into a nearby parking lot. Ironically,

See and Bassett died 500 feet (150 meters) from the Gemini 9 craft

which would transport them into space.

 

 

APOLLO 1

NASA’s first space disaster came on January 27, 1967, while testing its

would-be first manned mission. While participating in a training experience,

three crewmembers – Edward H. White II, Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, &

Roger B. Chaffee – died when a fire erupted inside the command module.

The use of pure oxygen in the cabin and an inward-opening hatch were

two primary reasons for the disaster. This incident, the first fatal

accident for NASA, led the agency to shut down the Apollo moon

program for 18 months and make serious changes to increase safety.

 

 

VIRGIN GALACTIC'S SPACESHIP TWO

commons.wikimedia.org

On SpaceShipTwo’s 55th test flight, the craft separated as planned

from its carrier, White Knight Two. The craft was taking off from the

Mojave Air and Spaceport the morning of October 31, 2014. Nine

Seconds into a textbook perfect flight, the craft’s twin tail booms

(which act as a brakes on descent) unexpectedly deployed. The

rocket continued to accelerate as planned and the combination of

acceleration & drag from the booms led to the craft breaking up over

the Mojave Desert. One of two pilots, Peter Siebold, survived the

crash while the other, Michael Alsbury, did not. The National

Transportation & Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the incident.

 

 

SOYUZ 1

Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov on board the plane before parachute jumping as a work out

Vladimir Komarov (a close friend of Yuri Gagarin) commanded April 2,

1967’s Soyuz 1 mission. After a successful stay in space, Soyuz 1

re-entered the atmosphere. When its parachutes failed to deploy, the

impact led to his death, the first human space fatality. (Some reports

say Gagarin tried to take Komarov’s place in a last minute attempt for

what some purport was a mission doomed to fail. However, much

scepticism surrounds this theory.)

 

 

SOYUZ 11

Soyuz 11 Crew

Three Soviet cosmonauts, Viktor Patsayev, Georgi Dobrovolsky, and

Vladislav Volkov, perished upon their capsule’s return to Earth on June

30, 1971. After successfully docking with Soviet space station Salyut 1 in

the three weeks prior, the team’s re-entry and descent appeared normal.

However, when rescue teams reached the capsule, they shockingly

found the cosmonauts dead. A valve had opened in space, leading

to rapid depressurization and asphyxiation. The craft’s autopilot

re-entry system allowed the craft to return normally. These deaths are

considered the first and only human space deaths as all other

fatalities occurred within Earth’s atmosphere.

 

 

SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA

Columbia's Crew

Space Shuttle Columbia’s seven-person crew, composed of Rick

Husband, William McCool, David Brown, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla,

Michael Anderson, and Ilan Ramon (the one non-American on the crew;

he was Israeli), died during re-entry on February 1, 2003. Returning

from a 16-day research mission in Earth’s orbit, the craft disintegrated

over northern Texas. The fault was linked to a piece of foam from the

fuel tank’s insulation which fell off during take-off, hitting the shuttle’s

left wing and damaging its thermal protection system (the system to

protect from burning temperatures caused by friction from re-entry).

The resulting hole led to internal damage from hot gas penetrating the

craft. The explosion led U.S. President George W. Bush to retire the space

shuttle program the following year.

 

 

SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER

Challenger's STS-51L Crew in the White Room

The first of two NASA shuttle disasters and the first U.S. space flight

with in-flight fatalities, the Challenger’s seven-astronaut crew died on

January 28, 1986. The seven – Sharon “Christa” McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis,

Judy Resnik, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair, Michael Smith, and Ellison Onizuka,

died when the shuttle exploded  1 minute 13 seconds into launch. 

Challenger’s 10th launch, the explosion was caused by failing o-ring seals

in the right solid-rocket booster, releasing hot gases and causing it to rupture.

The astronauts may have survived  the explosion but would not have

survived when the mostly intact cockpit slammed into the ocean at 200 mph

(320 kph). Half of the craft’s remains have yet to be recovered and

occasionally wash ashore.

 


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