All the advancements in technology that were being made were not perfect and still are immune to making mistakes. On January 28, 1986 America was shocked by the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger, and the death of its seven crew members. As is expected in a field of work that's exploratory and uncertain such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) space program, any tragedy that occurs often makes inside employees, government officials, and even the general public, wonder why it's necessary at all to continue when the consequences are so grave.On the morning of Feb. 1, 2003, space shuttle Columbia broke apart roughly 40 miles above the eart ...view middle of the document...
The two-man Gemini crew separated their spacecraft and had to use some of the propellant reserved for the return to Earth to stabilize their spacecraft. The mission was curtailed two days earlier than planned. On January 27, 1967, there was a fire aboard the space capsule of Apollo 1 on the ground at Cape Kennedy, and it killed three astronauts. Soyuz 1 (24 April 1967): after launch, only one solar panel deployed, meaning that there was only 50% of the expected electrical power and also some of the control thrusters were blocked by the folded panel. Vladimir Komarov, the sole cosmonaut on board, was able to bring the spacecraft out of orbit after 26 hours, but the descent module was tumbling during re-entry, resulting in both the prime and back-up parachutes becoming entangled after deployment. The spacecraft crashed, killing Komarov: the first in-flight space fatality. Soyuz 5 (18 January 1969): echoing the problems with the first Vostok, the Soyuz 5 descent module failed to separate from the rear instrument (propulsion module) until the heat of re-entry severed the straps holding the two modules together. The one cosmonaut on board made a safe landing. Apollo 12 (14 November 1969): shortly after launch the Saturn-5 was struck by lightning, knocking all of its systems offline. Power was restored and the crew went on to accomplish the second manned lunar landing. Apollo 13 (13 April 1970): an explosion in the service module during the trans-lunar coast crippled the spacecraft and resulted in the planned lunar landing being scrapped. The crew was successfully returned to Earth after living in the lunar module during most of the remainder of the flight. Soyuz 11 (30 June 1971): after the first successful space station residency (aboard the first Salyut), the three-man Soyuz 11 crew - died when pressure was lost inside the Soyuz descent module during their return to Earth. A faulty valve opened at the time of the orbital module's separation, allowing the descent module's atmosphere to leak into space. Soyuz '18-1' (5 April 1975): the second crew was launched to the Salyut 4 space station, but the central core of the Soyuz launcher failed to separate from the third st...
