Death in space. All astronauts who died in space

Space is an airless space, the temperature in which is up to -270 ° C. In such an aggressive environment, a person cannot survive, so astronauts always risk their lives, rushing into the unknown blackness of the Universe. In the process of exploring space, there have been many catastrophes that have claimed dozens of lives. One of such tragic milestones in the history of astronautics was the death of the Challenger shuttle, which resulted in the death of all crew members.

Briefly about the ship

In the United States, NASA launched the $1 billion Space Transportation System program. Within its framework, in 1971, the construction of reusable spacecraft began - the space shuttles (in English Space Shuttle, which literally translates as "space shuttle"). It was planned that these shuttles would, like shuttles, run between the Earth and orbit, rising to a height of up to 500 km. They should have been useful for delivering payloads to orbital stations, performing the necessary installation and construction work, and conducting scientific research.

One of these ships was the Challenger shuttle, the second space shuttle built under this program. In July 1982, it was handed over to NASA for operation.

It got its name in honor of a sea vessel that explored the ocean in the 1870s. In the NASA reference books, it was listed as the OV-99 apparatus.

Flight history

The Space Shuttle Challenger was first launched into space in April 1983 to launch a broadcast satellite. In June of the same year, it launched again to launch two communication satellites into orbit and conduct pharmaceutical experiments. One of the crew members was Sally Kristen Reid.

August 1983 - the third launch of the shuttle and the first night launch in the history of American astronautics. As a result, the telecommunications satellite Insat-1B was launched into orbit and the Canadian manipulator "Canadarm" was tested. The duration of the flight was 6 days with a little.

In February 1984, the Challenger shuttle returned to space, but the mission to launch two more satellites into orbit failed.

The fifth launch took place in April 1984. Then, for the first time in world history, a satellite was repaired in space. In October 1984, the sixth launch took place, which was marked by the presence of two female astronauts on board the spacecraft. During this momentous flight, the first spacewalk of a woman was made in the history of American astronautics - Katherine Sullivan.

The seventh flight in April 1985, the eighth in July and the ninth flight in October of that year were also successful. They were united by a common goal - conducting research in a space laboratory.

In total, the Challenger has 9 successful flights, it spent 69 days in space, made a complete orbit around the blue planet 987 times, its "mileage" is 41.5 million kilometers.

Shuttle Challenger disaster

The tragedy occurred off the coast of Florida on January 28, 1986 at 11:39 am. At this time, the Challenger shuttle exploded over the Atlantic Ocean. It collapsed in the 73rd second of flight at an altitude of 14 km from the ground. All 7 crew members were killed.

During launch, the O-ring of the right solid propellant booster was damaged. From this, a hole burned through in the side of the accelerator, from which a jet stream flew out towards the external fuel tank. The jet destroyed the tail mount and the supporting structures of the tank itself. The elements of the ship shifted, which broke the symmetry of thrust and air resistance. The spacecraft deviated from the given flight axis, as a result it was destroyed under the influence of aerodynamic overloads.

The Space Shuttle Challenger was not equipped with an evacuation system, so the crew members had no chance of survival. But even if there were such a system, the astronauts would fall into the ocean at a speed of more than 300 km / h. The force of the impact on the water would be such that no one would have survived anyway.

Last crew

During the 10th launch, the Challenger shuttle had seven people on board:

• Francis Richard "Dick" Scobie - 46, crew leader. American military pilot with the rank of lieutenant colonel, NASA astronaut. He was survived by his wife, daughter and son. He was posthumously awarded the medal "For space flight".
• Michael John Smith - 40 years old, co-pilot. Test pilot with the rank of captain, NASA astronaut. He left behind a wife and three children. He was posthumously awarded the medal "For space flight".
• Allison Shoji Onizuka - 39 years old, scientific specialist. American NASA astronaut of Japanese origin, test pilot with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of colonel.
• Judith Arlen Resnick - 36 years old, researcher. One of NASA's top engineers and astronauts. Professional pilot.
• Ronald Erwin McNair - 35 years old, scientific specialist. Physicist, NASA astronaut. He left behind his wife and two children. He was posthumously awarded the medal "For space flight".
• Gregory Bruce Jarvis - 41, payload specialist. An engineer by education. US Air Force Captain. NASA astronaut since 1984. He left his wife and three children at home. He was posthumously awarded the medal "For space flight".
• Sharon Christa Corrigan McAuliff - 37 years old, payload specialist. Civil. She was posthumously awarded the Space Medal - for astronauts.

A little more needs to be said about the last member of the crew, Christa McAuliffe. How could a civilian get on the Space Shuttle Challenger? It seems incredible.

Christa McAuliffe

She was born on September 2, 1948 in Boston, Massachusetts. Worked as a teacher in English, history and biology. She was married and had two children.

Her life flowed habitually and measuredly, until in 1984 the competition "Teacher in Space" was announced in the USA. His idea was to prove that every young and healthy man after adequate training will be able to successfully fly into space and return to Earth. Among the 11,000 applications submitted was the application of Krista, a cheerful, cheerful and energetic teacher from Boston.

She won the competition. When Vice President J. presented her with the winner's ticket at a ceremony at the White House, she burst into tears of happiness. It was a one way ticket.

After a three-month training, experts recognized Krista as ready to fly. She was instructed to shoot educational stories and conduct several lessons from the shuttle.

Pre-flight problems

Initially, in the process of preparing the tenth launch of the space shuttle, there were many problems:

• Initially, the launch was planned to take place on January 22 from the John F. Kennedy Cosmodrome. But due to organizational troubles, the start was moved first to January 23, and then to January 24.
• Because of the storm warning and low temperatures the flight was postponed for another day.
• Again, due to poor weather forecast, the start was postponed to January 27.
• During the next check of equipment, several problems were identified, so it was decided to appoint new date flight - 28 January.

On the morning of January 28, it was frosty outside, the temperature dropped to -1°C. This caused concern among the engineers, and in a private conversation they warned NASA management that extreme conditions may adversely affect the condition of the O-rings and recommended that the launch date be postponed again. But these recommendations were rejected. There was another difficulty: the launch site was icy. It was an insurmountable obstacle, but, "fortunately", by 10 am the ice began to melt. The start was scheduled for 11 hours 40 minutes. It was broadcast on national television. All of America watched the events at the spaceport.

Launch and crash of the shuttle Challenger

At 11:38 the engines started up. After 2 minutes, the device started. After 7 seconds, gray smoke escaped from the base of the right booster, this was recorded by ground shooting of the flight. The reason for this was the effect of shock loading during engine start-up. This has happened before, and the main o-ring worked, which provided reliable isolation of the systems. But that morning it was cold, so the frozen ring lost its elasticity and could not work properly. This was the cause of the disaster.

At 58 seconds into the flight, the Challenger shuttle, whose photo is in the article, began to collapse. After 6 seconds, liquid hydrogen began to flow out of the external tank, after another 2 seconds, the pressure in the external fuel tank dropped to a critical level.

At 73 seconds into the flight, the liquid oxygen tank collapsed. The oxygen and hydrogen detonated and the Challenger disappeared in a huge fireball.

Search for the remains of the ship and the bodies of the dead

After the explosion, the wreckage of the shuttle fell into the Atlantic Ocean. The search for the wreckage of the spacecraft and the bodies of the dead astronauts took up with the support of the military from the Coast Guard. On March 7, a shuttle cabin with the bodies of crew members was found at the bottom of the ocean. Due to prolonged exposure sea ​​water the autopsy was unable to determine the exact cause of death. However, it was possible to find out that after the explosion, the astronauts remained alive, since their cabin was simply torn off from the tail section. Michael Smith, Allison Onizuka, and Judith Resnick remained conscious and turned on their personal air supply. Most likely, the astronauts could not survive the gigantic force of impact on the water.

Investigation into the causes of the tragedy

An internal investigation into all the circumstances of the NASA disaster was carried out under the strictest secrecy. To understand all the details of the case and find out the reasons for the fall of the Challenger shuttle, US President Reagan created a special Rogers Commission (named after Chairman William Pierce Rogers). It included prominent scientists, space and aviation engineers, astronauts and the military.

A few months later, the Rogers Commission submitted a report to the president, where all the circumstances that led to the Challenger shuttle disaster were made public. It was also pointed out that the NASA leadership did not adequately respond to the warnings of experts about the problems that had arisen with the safety of the planned flight.

The aftermath of the crash

The crash of the shuttle Challenger swipe according to the reputation of the United States, the program "Space Transportation System" was curtailed for 3 years. Due to the largest spacecraft disaster at the time, the United States suffered losses ($8 billion).

Significant changes were made to the design of the shuttles, which significantly increased their safety.

The structure of NASA was also reorganized. An independent agency for oversight of flight safety has been created.

Display in culture

In May 2013, the film directed by J. Hawes "Challenger" was released. In the UK, it was named the best drama film of the year. Its plot is based on real events and deals with the activities of the Rogers Commission.

September 11, 2013 when astronauts return from the International space station(ISS) of the Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft. Part of the way the astronauts "flyed to the touch." In particular, the crew did not receive parameters about their altitude and only learned from the reports of the rescue service at what altitude they were.

May 27, 2009 The Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. On board were Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk. Temperature control problems occurred inside the Soyuz TMA-15 manned spacecraft during flight, which were corrected with a thermal management system. The incident did not affect the well-being of the crew. On May 29, 2009, the spacecraft docked with the ISS.

August 14, 1997 during the landing of the Soyuz TM-25 with the crew of EO-23 (Vasily Tsibliyev and Alexander Lazutkin), the soft landing engines fired prematurely, at an altitude of 5.8 km. For this reason, the landing of the SA was hard (landing speed was 7.5 m/s), but the astronauts were not injured.

January 14, 1994 after the undocking of the Soyuz TM-17 with the crew of EO-14 (Vasily Tsibliyev and Alexander Serebrov), during a flyby of the Mir complex, an off-design rendezvous and collision of the spacecraft with the station occurred. The incident did not have serious consequences.

April 20, 1983 Soyuz T-8 spacecraft with cosmonauts Vladimir Titov, Gennady Strekalov and Alexander Serebrov on board took off from the 1st site of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. For the spacecraft commander Titov, this was the first trip to orbit. The crew had to work for several months on board the Salyut-7 station, to conduct a lot of research and experiments. However, the astronauts were in for a failure. Due to the non-disclosure of the antenna of the Igla rendezvous and docking system on the ship, the crew failed to dock the ship to the station, and on April 22 the Soyuz T-8 landed on Earth.

April 10, 1979 Soyuz-33 launched with a crew of Nikolai Rukavishnikov and Bulgarian Georgy Ivanov. When approaching the station, the ship's main engine failed. The cause of the accident was a gas generator that feeds the turbopump unit. It exploded, damaging the backup engine. When issuing (April 12) a braking impulse, the backup engine worked with a shortage of thrust, and the impulse was not completely issued. However, the SA landed safely, albeit with a significant overflight.

October 9, 1977 Soyuz-25 was launched, piloted by cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalenko and Valery Ryumin. The flight program provided for docking with the Salyut-6 DOS, which was launched into orbit on September 29, 1977. Due to an emergency situation, it was not possible to perform docking with the station the first time. The second attempt was also unsuccessful. And after the third attempt, the ship, having touched the station and pushed off by spring pushers, retreated 8-10 m and hovered. The fuel in the main system ran out completely, and it was no longer possible to move away with the help of engines. There was a possibility of a collision between the ship and the station, but after a few orbits they separated to a safe distance. The fuel for issuing the braking impulse was taken from the reserve tank for the first time. the true reason Docking failures could not be established. Most likely, there was a defect in the Soyuz-25 docking station (the serviceability of the station's docking station was confirmed by subsequent dockings with the Soyuz spacecraft), but it burned out in the atmosphere.

October 15, 1976 during the flight of the Soyuz-23 spacecraft with the crew of Vyacheslav Zudov and Valery Rozhdestvensky, an attempt was made to dock with the Salyut-5 DOS. Due to the off-design mode of operation of the rendezvous control system, the docking was canceled and a decision was made to return the cosmonauts to Earth ahead of schedule. On October 16, the ship's SA splashed down on the surface of Lake Tengiz, covered with pieces of ice at an ambient temperature of -20 degrees Celsius. Salt water got on the contacts of external connectors, some of which remained energized. This led to the formation of false chains and the passage of a command to shoot the cover of the container of the reserve parachute system. The parachute left the compartment, got wet and turned the ship over. The exit hatch was in the water, and the astronauts almost died. They were saved by the pilots of the search helicopter, who, in difficult weather conditions, were able to detect the SA and, having hooked it with a cable, dragged it to the shore.

April 5, 1975 The Soyuz spacecraft (7K-T No. 39) was launched with cosmonauts Vasily Lazarev and Oleg Makarov on board. The flight program provided for docking with the Salyut-4 DOS and work on board for 30 days. However, due to an accident during the activation of the third stage of the rocket, the ship did not enter orbit. The Soyuz made a suborbital flight, landing on a mountain slope in a deserted region of Altai not far from the state border with China and Mongolia. On the morning of April 6, 1975, Lazarev and Makarov were evacuated from their landing site by helicopter.

June 30, 1971 During the return to Earth of the crew of the Soyuz 11 spacecraft, due to the premature opening of the respiratory ventilation valve, the descent vehicle was depressurized, which led to a sharp decrease in pressure in the crew module. As a result of the accident, all the astronauts on board died. The crew of the spacecraft, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, consisted of three people: the spacecraft commander Georgy Dobrovolsky, research engineer Viktor Patsaev and flight engineer Vladislav Volkov. During the flight, a new record was set at that time, the duration of the crew's stay in space was over 23 days.

April 19, 1971 the first Salyut orbital station was launched into orbit, and April 23, 1971 TPK Soyuz-10 launched to it with the first expedition consisting of Vladimir Shatalov, Alexei Eliseev and Nikolai Rukavishnikov. This expedition was supposed to work at the Salyut orbital station for 22-24 days. TPK "Soyuz-10" docked to the orbital station "Salyut", but due to damage to the docking unit of the manned spacecraft during docking, the cosmonauts could not board the station and returned to Earth.

April 23, 1967 while returning to Earth, the parachute system of the Soyuz-1 spacecraft failed, resulting in the death of cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. The flight program planned the docking of the Soyuz-1 spacecraft with the Soyuz-2 spacecraft and the transition from ship to ship through outer space Aleksey Eliseev and Yevgeny Khrunov, but due to the non-disclosure of one of the solar panels on Soyuz-1, the launch of Soyuz-2 was canceled. Soyuz-1 made an early landing, but at the final stage of the ship's descent to Earth, the parachute system failed and the descent vehicle crashed east of the city of Orsk, Orenburg Region, the cosmonaut died.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

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

"Soyuz-1": a victim of the space race

1967 The space industry lags behind the United States by two huge steps - for two years the States have been producing manned flights and for two years the USSR has not had a single flight. Therefore, the country's leadership was so eager to launch the Soyuz into orbit with a man on board at all costs.

All trial tests of unmanned "unions" ended in accidents. Soyuz-1 was launched into orbit on April 23, 1967. There is one cosmonaut on board - Vladimir Komarov.

What happened

Problems began immediately after entering orbit: one of the two solar panels did not open. The ship experienced a power shortage. The flight had to be canceled ahead of schedule. The Soyuz successfully deorbited, but final stage 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 successfully released reserve parachute were wrapped around the unfired pilot chute. The final reason for the failure of the main parachute has not been established. Among the most common versions is a violation of technology in the production of the descent vehicle at the factory. There is a version that due to the heating of the device, the paint on the parachute ejection tray, with which it was painted by mistake, became sticky, and the parachute did not come out, as it “stuck” to the tray. At a speed of 50 m/s, the descent vehicle hit the ground, which led to the death of the astronaut.
This accident was the first (known) case of human death in the history of manned space flights.

Apollo 1: fire on the ground

The fire occurred on January 27, 1967 during preparations for the first manned flight under the Apollo program. The entire crew was killed. There were several probable causes of the tragedy: an error in choosing the atmosphere (the choice was made in favor of pure oxygen) ship and a spark (or short circuit), which could serve as a kind of detonator.

The Apollo crew a few days before the tragedy. Left to right: Edward White, Virgil Grissom, Roger Chaffee.

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

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

Once ignited, the fire spread at an incredible speed, damaging the suits. The complex design of the hatch and its locks did not leave the astronauts a chance to escape.

"Soyuz-11": depressurization and lack of spacesuits

Ship commander Georgy Dobrovolsky (center), test engineer Viktor Patsaev and flight engineer Vladislav Volkov (right). This was the first crew of the Salyut-1 orbital station. The tragedy occurred during the return of the astronauts to earth. Until the discovery of the ship after landing, on Earth they did not know that the crew had died. Since the landing took place in automatic mode, the descent vehicle landed at the designated place, without major deviations from the plan.
The search party found the crew with no signs of life, resuscitation didn't help.

What 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 about 150 km, the pressure in the descent vehicle began to drop sharply. The Commission concluded that the reason for this decline was the unauthorized opening of the ventilation valve.
This valve was supposed to open at a low altitude when the squib was blown up. Why the squib worked much earlier is not known for certain.
Presumably, this happened due to the shock wave passing through the body of the apparatus. And the shock wave, in turn, is caused by the operation of the squibs separating the Soyuz compartments. It was not possible to reproduce this during ground tests. However, in the future, the design of the ventilation valves was finalized. It should be noted that the design of the Soyuz-11 did not provide for spacesuits for the crew ...

Challenger Crash: Catastrophe Live

This tragedy has become one of the most high-profile in the history of space exploration, thanks to live television. The American shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986, 73 seconds after launch, which was watched by millions of spectators. All 7 crew members were killed.

What happened

It was found that the destruction of the aircraft was caused by damage to the sealing ring of the solid propellant booster. Damage to the ring during launch led to the formation of a hole from which a jet stream began to beat. In turn, this led to the destruction of the accelerator mount and the structure of the external fuel tank. Due to the destruction of the fuel tank, the fuel components detonated.

The shuttle did not explode, as is commonly believed, but it "collapsed" due to aerodynamic overloads. The cockpit did not collapse, but most likely depressurized. Debris fell into the Atlantic Ocean. It was possible to find and raise many fragments of the shuttle, including the cockpit. It was found that at least three crew members survived the destruction of the shuttle and were conscious while trying to turn on the air supply devices.
After this disaster, the Shuttles were equipped with an emergency crew evacuation system. But it is worth noting that in the Challenger accident, this system could not save the crew, since it is designed to be used strictly during level flight. This disaster "turned off" the shuttle program for 2.5 years. The Special Commission assigned a high degree blame for the lack of "corporate culture" in the entire structure of NASA, as well as the crisis of the managerial decision-making system. Managers have been aware of a defect in o-rings supplied by a particular supplier for 10 years…

Columbia Shuttle Disaster: Missed Landing

The tragedy occurred on the morning of February 1, 2003 during the return to Earth after a 16-day stay of the shuttle in orbit. After entering the dense layers of the atmosphere, the ship did not get in touch with the NASA mission control center, and instead of the shuttle, its fragments appeared in the sky falling to the ground.

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

The investigation went on for several months. The wreckage of the shuttle was collected in an area equal in size to two states. It was found that the cause of the disaster was damage to the protective layer of the wing of the shuttle. This damage was likely caused by a piece of oxygen tank insulation falling off during the launch of the ship. As in the case of the Challenger, the tragedy could have been prevented if the crew had carried out a visual inspection of the ship in orbit by a strong-willed decision of NASA leaders.

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

Apollo 13: a massive tragedy with a happy ending

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

What happened

Launch of Apollo 13.

After the standard mixing of oxygen and nitrogen in their respective tanks, the astronauts heard a bang and felt a jolt. A gas (oxygen mixture) leak from the service compartment became noticeable in the porthole. A cloud of gas changed the orientation of the ship. Apollo began to lose oxygen and energy. The bill went to the clock. A plan was made to use the lunar module as a lifeboat. A headquarters was set up on Earth to rescue the crew. There were many problems that had to be solved at the same time.

The damaged engine compartment of Apollo 13 after separation.

The ship had to fly around the moon and enter the return trajectory.

In the course of the entire operation, in addition to technical problems with the ship, the astronauts began to experience a crisis in life support systems. It was impossible to turn on the heaters - the temperature in the module dropped to 5 degrees Celsius. The crew began to freeze, in addition, there was a threat of freezing food and water supplies.
The content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the cabin of the lunar module reached 13%. Thanks to clear instructions from the command center, the crew was able to make “filters” from scrap materials, which made it possible to bring the carbon dioxide content to acceptable levels.
During the rescue operation, the crew was able to undock the engine compartment and separate the lunar module. All this had to be done almost "manually" in terms of life support indicators close to critical. After the successful completion of these operations, it was still necessary to perform pre-landing navigation. If the navigation systems were configured incorrectly, the module could enter the atmosphere at the wrong angle, which would cause critical overheating of the cabin.
For the landing period, a number of countries (including the USSR) declared radio silence at operating frequencies.

On April 17, 1970, the Apollo 13 compartment entered the Earth's atmosphere and splashed down safely in the Indian Ocean. All crew members survived.

There are only about 20 people who gave their lives for the benefit of world progress in space exploration, and today we will tell about them.

Their names are immortalized in the ashes of cosmic chronos, burned into the atmospheric memory of the universe forever, many of us would dream of remaining heroes for humanity, however, few would like to accept such a death as our astronaut heroes.

The 20th century became a breakthrough in mastering the path to the expanses of the Universe, in the second half of the 20th century, after long preparations, a person was finally able to fly into space. However, there was also back side such rapid progress death of astronauts.

People died during pre-flight preparations, during takeoff of a spacecraft, during landing. Total during space launches, preparations for flights, including cosmonauts and technical personnel who died in the layers of the atmosphere more than 350 people died, only astronauts - about 170 people.

Let us list the names of the cosmonauts who died during the operation of spacecraft (the USSR and the whole world, in particular America), and then we will briefly tell the story of their death.

Not a single cosmonaut died directly in space, basically all of them died in the Earth's atmosphere, during the destruction or fire of the ship (the Apollo 1 cosmonauts died in preparation for the first manned flight).

Volkov, Vladislav Nikolaevich ("Soyuz-11")

Dobrovolsky, Georgy Timofeevich ("Soyuz-11")

Komarov, Vladimir Mikhailovich ("Soyuz-1")

Patsaev, Viktor Ivanovich ("Soyuz-11")

Anderson, Michael Phillip (Columbia)

Brown, David McDowell (Columbia)

Grissom, Virgil Ivan (Apollo 1)

Jarvis, Gregory Bruce (Challenger)

Clark, Laurel Blair Salton (Columbia)

McCool, William Cameron (Columbia)

McNair, Ronald Ervin (Challenger)

McAuliffe, Christa (Challenger)

Onizuka, Allison (Challenger)

Ramon, Ilan (Columbia)

Resnick, Judith Arlen (Challenger)

Scobie, Francis Richard (Challenger)

Smith, Michael John (Challenger)

White, Edward Higgins (Apollo 1)

Husband, Rick Douglas (Columbia)

Chawla, Kalpana (Colombia)

Chaffee, Roger (Apollo 1)

It is worth considering that we will never know the stories of the death of some astronauts, because this information is secret.

Soyuz-1 disaster

Soyuz-1 is the first Soviet manned spacecraft (KK) of the Soyuz series. Launched into orbit April 23, 1967. On board the Soyuz-1 was one cosmonaut, Hero of the Soviet Union Colonel-Engineer V. M. Komarov, who died during the landing of the descent vehicle. Komarov's understudy in preparation for this flight was Yu. A. Gagarin.

Soyuz-1 was supposed to dock with the Soyuz-2 spacecraft to return the crew of the first ship, but due to malfunctions, the Soyuz-2 launch was canceled.

After entering orbit, problems began with the operation of the solar battery, after unsuccessful attempts to launch it, it was decided to lower the ship to Earth.

But during the descent, 7 km to the ground, the parachute system failed, the ship hit the ground at a speed of 50 km per hour, the hydrogen peroxide tanks exploded, the cosmonaut died instantly, the Soyuz-1 almost completely burned out, the cosmonaut's remains were badly burned so that it was impossible to determine even fragments of the body.

"This crash was the first in-flight death in the history of manned spaceflight."

The causes of the tragedy have not been fully established.

Soyuz-11 disaster

Soyuz-11 is a spacecraft whose crew of three cosmonauts died in 1971. The reason for the death of people is the depressurization of the descent vehicle during the landing of the ship.

Just a couple of years after the death of Yu. A. Gagarin (himself famous astronaut died in a plane crash in 1968), having already gone along the well-trodden path of conquering outer space, several more cosmonauts passed away.

Soyuz-11 was supposed to deliver the crew to the Salyut-1 orbital station, but the ship was unable to dock due to damage to the docking port.

Crew composition:

Commander: Lieutenant Colonel Georgy Dobrovolsky

Flight Engineer: Vladislav Volkov

Research Engineer: Victor Patsaev

They were between 35 and 43 years old. All of them were posthumously awarded awards, diplomas, orders.

What happened, why the spacecraft was depressurized, could not be established, but most likely we will not be told this information. But it is a pity that at that time our cosmonauts were "guinea pigs", which they began to release into space after the dogs without much reliability, security. However, probably, many of those who dreamed of becoming astronauts understood what a dangerous profession they were choosing.

Docking took place on June 7, undocking on June 29, 1971. There was an unsuccessful attempt to dock with the Salyut-1 orbital station, the crew was able to go on board the Salyut-1, even stayed at the orbital station for several days, a TV connection was established, however, already at the first approach to the station, the cosmonauts turned their footage for some smoke. On the 11th day, a fire began, the crew decided to descend on the ground, but problems were revealed that disrupted the undocking process. Space suits were not provided for the crew.

On June 29, at 21.25, the ship separated from the station, but after a little more than 4 hours, communication with the crew was lost. The main parachute was deployed, the ship landed in a given area, and the soft landing engines fired. But the search team found at 02.16 (June 30, 1971) the lifeless bodies of the crew, resuscitation measures were unsuccessful.

During the investigation, it was found that the astronauts tried to the last to eliminate the leak, but mixed up the valves, fought not for the broken one, in the meantime they missed the opportunity to save. They died from decompression sickness - air bubbles were found during the autopsy of the bodies, even in the valves of the heart.

The exact reasons for the depressurization of the ship have not been named, or rather, not announced to the general public.

Subsequently, engineers and creators of spacecraft, crew commanders took into account many tragic mistakes of previous unsuccessful flights into space.

Shuttle Challenger disaster

“The Challenger shuttle disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when the Space Shuttle Challenger at the very beginning of the STS-51L mission was destroyed as a result of an external fuel tank explosion at the 73rd second of flight, which led to the death of all 7 crew members. The crash occurred at 11:39 EST (16:39 UTC) over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the central part of the Florida peninsula, USA.

In the photo, the crew of the ship - from left to right: McAuliffe, Jarvis, Reznik, Scobie, McNair, Smith, Onizuka

All of America was waiting for this launch, millions of eyewitnesses and viewers on TV watched the launch of the ship, it was the climax of the conquest of space by the West. And so, when there was a grand launch of the ship, seconds later, a fire began, later an explosion, the shuttle cabin separated from the destroyed ship and fell at a speed of 330 km per hour on the surface of the water, seven days later the astronauts will be found in a breakaway cabin at the bottom of the ocean. Until the last moment, before hitting the water, some crew members were alive, trying to supply air to the cabin.

In the video below the article there is an excerpt from the live broadcast with the launch and death of the shuttle.

“The crew of the shuttle Challenger consisted of seven people. Its composition was as follows:

The crew commander is 46-year-old Francis "Dick" R. Scobee. US military pilot, US Air Force lieutenant colonel, NASA astronaut.

The co-pilot is 40-year-old Michael J. Smith. Test pilot, US Navy captain, NASA astronaut.

The scientific specialist is 39-year-old Allison S. Onizuka. Test pilot, US Air Force lieutenant colonel, NASA astronaut.

The scientific specialist is 36-year-old Judith A. Resnick. NASA engineer and astronaut. She spent 6 days in space 00 hours 56 minutes.

Scientific specialist - 35-year-old Ronald E. McNair. Physicist, NASA astronaut.

The payload specialist is 41-year-old Gregory B. Jarvis. NASA engineer and astronaut.

The payload specialist is 37-year-old Sharon Christa Corrigan McAuliffe. The Boston teacher who won the competition. For her, this was her first flight into space as the first participant in the Teacher in Space project.”

Last photo of the crew

Various commissions were created to establish the causes of the tragedy, but most of the information was classified, according to assumptions - the reasons for the crash of the ship were poor interaction between organizational services, violations in the fuel system that were not detected in time (the explosion occurred at launch due to burnout of the wall of the solid fuel booster) and even. . terrorist attack. Some have said that the shuttle explosion was staged to hurt America's prospects.

Columbia shuttle disaster

“The shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, shortly before the end of its 28th flight (mission STS-107). The last flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia began on January 16, 2003. On the morning of February 1, 2003, after a 16-day flight, the shuttle returned to Earth.

NASA lost contact with the spacecraft at approximately 14:00 GMT (09:00 EST), 16 minutes before the expected landing on runway 33 at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which was scheduled to take place at 14:16 GMT. Eyewitnesses filmed the burning wreckage of the shuttle flying at an altitude of about 63 kilometers at a speed of 5.6 km / s. All 7 crew members were killed."

Pictured is the crew - From top to bottom: Chawla, Husband, Anderson, Clarke, Ramon, McCool, Brown

The Columbia shuttle was making its next 16-day flight, which was supposed to end with a landing on Earth, however, as the main version of the investigation says, the shuttle was damaged during launch - a piece of thermal insulation foam came off (the coating was intended to protect oxygen tanks from ice and hydrogen) as a result of the impact damaged the wing coating, as a result of which, during the descent of the apparatus, when the heaviest loads on the hull occur, the apparatus began to overheat and, subsequently, destruction.

Even during the shuttle expedition, engineers repeatedly turned to NASA management in order to assess damage, visually inspect the shuttle body with the help of orbital satellites, but NASA specialists assured that there were no fears and risks, the shuttle would safely descend to Earth.

“The crew of the Columbia shuttle consisted of seven people. Its composition was as follows:

The crew commander is 45-year-old Richard "Rick" D. Husband. US military pilot, US Air Force colonel, NASA astronaut. Spent 25 days 17 hours 33 minutes in space. Prior to Columbia, he was commander of the STS-96 Discovery shuttle.

The co-pilot is 41-year-old William "Willie" C. McCool. Test pilot, NASA astronaut. Spent 15 days 22 hours 20 minutes in space.

The flight engineer is 40-year-old Kalpana Chawla. Researcher, first female NASA astronaut of Indian origin. Spent 31 days 14 hours 54 minutes in space.

Payload Specialist - 43-year-old Michael F. Anderson (Eng. Michael P. Anderson). Scientist, NASA astronaut. Spent 24 days, 18 hours, 8 minutes in space.

Specialist in zoology - 41-year-old Laurel B. S. Clark (Eng. Laurel B. S. Clark). US Navy Captain, NASA Astronaut. Spent 15 days 22 hours 20 minutes in space.

Scientific specialist (physician) - 46-year-old David McDowell Brown. Test pilot, NASA astronaut. Spent 15 days 22 hours 20 minutes in space.

Scientific specialist - 48-year-old Ilan Ramon (Eng. Ilan Ramon, Heb.אילן רמון‏‎). First Israeli NASA astronaut. Spent 15 days 22 hours 20 minutes in space.

The shuttle descended on February 1, 2003, landing on Earth was supposed to occur within an hour.

“On February 1, 2003 at 08:15:30 (EST), the space shuttle Columbia began its descent to Earth. At 08:44 the shuttle began to enter the dense layers of the atmosphere. However, due to damage, the leading edge of the left wing began to overheat badly. From the period of 08:50, the ship's hull endures strong thermal loads, at 08:53, debris began to fall off the wing, but the crew was alive, there was still communication.

At 08:59:32, the commander sent the last message, which was interrupted in mid-sentence. At 09:00 eyewitnesses have already filmed the explosion of the shuttle, the ship fell apart into a lot of debris. that is, the fate of the crew was a foregone conclusion due to the inaction of NASA, but the destruction itself and the death of people occurred in a matter of seconds.

It is worth noting that the Columbia shuttle was operated many times, at the time of its death the ship was 34 years old (in operation with NASA since 1979, the first manned flight in 1981), flew into space 28 times, but this flight turned out to be fatal.

In space itself, no one died, in the dense layers of the atmosphere and in spacecraft - about 18 people.

In addition to the catastrophes of 4 ships (two Russian - Soyuz-1 and Soyuz-11 and American - Columbia and Challenger), in which 18 people died, there were several more disasters during the explosion, fire in pre-flight preparation , one of the most famous tragedies - a fire in an atmosphere of pure oxygen in preparation for the Apollo 1 flight, then three American cosmonauts died, in a similar situation, a very young USSR cosmonaut, Valentin Bondarenko, died. The astronauts just burned alive.

Another NASA astronaut, Michael Adams, died while testing the X-15 rocket plane.

Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin died during an unsuccessful flight on an airplane during a routine training.

Probably, the goal of the people who stepped into space was grandiose, and it’s not a fact that even knowing their fate, many would renounce astronautics, but still you always need to remember at what cost we paved the way to the stars ...

In the photo is a monument to the fallen astronauts on the moon

Storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions - earthly cataclysms cost nothing to destroy human civilization. But even the most formidable elements will sink when a cosmic catastrophe enters the scene, capable of blowing up planets and extinguishing stars - the main threat to the Earth. Today we will show what the Universe is capable of in anger.

The dance of the galaxies will spin the Sun and throw it into the abyss

Let's start with the biggest disaster - the collision of galaxies. Already after some 3-4 billion years it will crash into our Milky Way and absorb it, turning into a huge egg-shaped sea of ​​​​stars. During this period, the night sky of the Earth will break the record for the number of stars - there will be three to four times more stars. Do you know, ?

The collision itself does not threaten us - if the stars were the size of a table tennis ball, then the distance between them in the galaxy would be 3 kilometers. The biggest problem is the weakest, but at the same time the most powerful force in the Universe - gravity.

The mutual attraction of the stars in the merging Andromeda and the Milky Way will protect the Sun from destruction. If two stars approach each other, their gravity accelerates them and creates a common center of mass - they will circle around it, like balls around the edges of a tape measure. The same thing will happen with galaxies - before connecting together, their cores will “dance” next to each other.

What does it look like? Watch the video below:

Fear and loathing in the cosmic abyss

These dances will bring the most trouble. A star on the outskirts like the Sun will be able to accelerate to hundreds and even thousands of kilometers per second, which will break through the attraction of the galactic center - and our luminary will fly away into intergalactic space.

The Earth and other planets will remain together with the Sun - most likely, nothing will change in their orbits. True Milky Way that pleases us summer nights, will slowly move away, and the usual stars in the sky will be replaced by the light of lonely galaxies.

But you might not be lucky. In galaxies, in addition to stars, there are also whole clouds of interstellar dust and gas. The sun, once in such a cloud, begins to “eat” it and gain mass, therefore, the brightness and activity of the star will increase, irregular strong flares will appear - a real cosmic catastrophe for any planet.

Online galaxy collision simulator

To simulate a collision, left-click on a black area and drag the cursor slightly while holding the button towards the white galaxy. So you will create a second galaxy and set its speed. To reset the simulation, click reset down below.

In addition, collisions with clouds of hydrogen and helium are unlikely to benefit the Earth itself. If you are not lucky enough to be in a massive cluster, you can find yourself inside the Sun itself. And about such things as life on the surface, water and familiar atmosphere can be safely forgotten.

Another Andromeda galaxy can simply “squeeze out” the Sun and include it in its composition. Now we live in a calm region of the Milky Way, where there are few supernovae, gas flows and other troubled neighbors. But no one knows where Andromeda will “populate” us - you can even fall into, full of energy of the most outlandish objects in the galaxy. The earth cannot survive there.

Should I be afraid and pack my bags to another galaxy?

There is one old Russian joke. Two old women walk past the planetarium and hear the guide say:

So, the Sun will go out in 5 billion years.
In a panic, one of the old women runs up to the guide:
- After how much, how long will it go out?
“In five billion years, grandma.
— Uf-f-f! Thank God! And it seemed to me that after five million.

The same applies to the collision of galaxies - it is unlikely that humanity will be able to survive until the moment when Andromeda begins to swallow the Milky Way. There will be little chance even if people try very hard. Already in a billion years, the Earth will become too hot for the existence of life somewhere other than the poles, and after 2-3 there will be no water left on it, as on.

So you should only be afraid of the catastrophe below - it is much more dangerous and sudden.

Space disaster: supernova explosion

When the Sun runs out of its supply of stellar hydrogen fuel, its upper layers will be blown into the surrounding space, and only a small hot core, a white dwarf, will remain of it. But the Sun is a yellow dwarf, an unremarkable star. And big stars, 8 times more massive than our luminary, leave the cosmic scene beautifully. They explode, carrying small particles and radiation hundreds of light-years away.

As in the case of collisions of galaxies, gravity has a hand here. It compresses aged massive stars to such an extent that all their matter detonates. Interesting fact- if a star is twenty times larger than the Sun, it turns into. And before that, she also explodes.

However, it is not necessary to be large and massive in order to one day shine in a supernova. The sun is a single star, but there are many star systems where the luminaries revolve around each other. Brother stars often age at different rates, and it may turn out that the “older” luminary burns out to a white dwarf, while the younger one is still in its prime. This is where the trouble begins.

When the "younger" star ages, it will begin to turn into a red giant - its shell will expand, and the temperature will decrease. This is what the old white dwarf will take advantage of - since there are no longer nuclear processes in him, nothing prevents him, like a vampire, from “sucking out” the outer layers of his brother. Moreover, it sucks them out so much that it breaks the gravitational limit of its own mass. Therefore, a supernova explodes like a big star.

Supernovae are the blacksmiths of the Universe, because it is the force of their flashes and compression that generates elements heavier than iron, like gold and uranium (according to another theory, they arise in neutron stars, but their appearance is impossible without a supernova). It is also believed that the outbreak of a star in the neighborhood of the Sun helped to form, including our Earth. Let's thank her for that.

Don't Rush to Love Supernovas

Yes, starbursts can be very useful - after all, supernovae are a natural part of life cycle stars. But for the Earth, they will not end in anything good. The most vulnerable part of the planet for supernovae is. Nitrogen, from which it mainly consists in the air, under the influence of supernova particles will begin to combine with ozone

And without the ozone layer, all life on Earth would be vulnerable to ultraviolet radiation. Remember that ultraviolet quartz lamps cannot be looked at? Now imagine that the whole sky has turned into one huge blue lamp that burns out all life. Marine plankton, which produce most of the oxygen in the atmosphere, will be especially bad.

Is the threat to Earth real?

What is the probability that a supernova will hit us? Look at the following photo:

These are the remains of a supernova that has already illuminated its own. It was so bright that in 1054 it could be seen as a very bright star even during the day - and this despite the fact that the supernova and the Earth are separated by six and a half thousand light years!

The diameter of the nebula is 11 . For comparison, our solar system from edge to edge takes 2 light years, and to the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, 4 light years. There are at least 14 stars within 11 light-years around the Sun - each of them can explode. And the “combat” radius of a supernova is 26 light years. Such an event happens no more than 1 time in 100 million years, which is very common on a cosmic scale.

Gamma-ray burst - if the Sun became a thermonuclear bomb

There is another cosmic catastrophe, much more dangerous than hundreds of supernovae at the same time - a burst of gamma radiation. This is the most dangerous type of radiation that penetrates through any protection - if you climb into a deep basement from metal concrete, the exposure will decrease by 1000 times, but will not disappear completely. And any suits are completely unable to save a person: gamma rays weaken only twice, passing through a centimeter-thick sheet of lead. But a lead suit is an unbearable burden, dozens of times heavier than knightly armor.

However, even during the explosion of a nuclear power plant, the energy of gamma rays is small - there is not such a mass of matter to feed them. But such masses exist in space. These are supernovae of very heavy stars (like the Wolf-Rayet stars we wrote about), as well as the merger of neutron stars or black holes - recently such an event was recorded by gravitational waves. The strength of a gamma-ray flash of such cataclysms can reach 10 54 ergs that are emitted over a period of milliseconds to an hour.

Unit of measure - star explosion

10 54 erg - is it a lot? If the entire mass of the Sun became a thermonuclear charge and exploded, the energy of the explosion would be 3 × 10 51 erg - as in a weak gamma-ray flash. But if such an event occurs at a distance of 10 light years, the threat to the Earth will not be illusory - the effect would be like that of a nuclear bomb explosion on every conventional hectare of the sky! This would destroy life on one hemisphere instantly, and on the other in a matter of hours. Distance will not greatly reduce the threat: even if gamma radiation flares up at the other end of the galaxy, an atomic bomb will reach our planet for 10 km 2 .

A nuclear explosion is not the worst thing that can happen

About 10 thousand gamma-ray bursts are recorded annually - they are visible at distances of billions of years, from galaxies on another. Within a single galaxy, a burst occurs approximately once every one million years. A logical question arises -

Why are we still alive?

The mechanism of the formation of a gamma-ray burst saves the Earth. Scientists call the energy of a supernova explosion "dirty" because it involves billions of tons of particles that scatter in all directions. A “pure” gamma-ray burst is a release of only one energy. It occurs in the form of concentrated rays extending from the poles of an object, star or black hole.

Remember the stars in the analogy with table tennis balls that are 3 kilometers apart? Now let's imagine that a laser pointer is screwed to one of the balls, shining in an arbitrary direction. What is the chance that the laser will hit another balloon? Very, very small.

But do not relax. Scientists believe that gamma-ray bursts have already reached the Earth once - in the past they could cause one of the mass extinctions. To know for sure whether the radiation will reach us or not, it will be possible only in practice. However, it will be too late to build bunkers then.

Finally

Today we walked only through the most global space disasters. But there are many other threats to Earth, such as:

• Asteroid or comet impact (we wrote about where you can learn about the consequences of recent falls)
• The transformation of the Sun into a red giant.
• Flash on the Sun (they can be).
• Migration of the giant planets in the solar system.
• Stop rotation.

How to protect yourself and prevent tragedy? Follow science and space news and explore the universe with a reliable guide. And if something is unclear, or you want to know more - write in the chat, comments and go to