Since space is not at all a friendly environment and we are not completely prepared to explore it yet, there have been many space disasters throughout history. These disasters happened when astronauts died on launch pads, in flight, and during re-entry. There have also been unmanned missions that failed, but we won’t discuss those here. For now, we will focus on manned space disasters. It’s more important to mention these and remember astronauts who died to keep them in our minds. After all, without their contribution, the space industry would not be where it is now.
What disasters happened in space?
Among the most famous space disasters, we should mention the Soyuz 1 tragedy, Apollo 1, and, of course, space shuttles Columbia and Challenger. Not all these disasters happened in space, but all missions were aimed at space exploration. Some of these space disasters happened during training and preparation, such as Apollo 1 from in. Back then, three astronauts died in a few seconds, burning to death because they couldn’t escape cramped conditions and open their shuttle’s hatch.
Soviet Soyuz 1 astronauts died on a mission because their spacecraft’s ventilation valves opened prematurely, and they didn’t have the advanced spacesuits we have today. There might have been disasters the USSR was keeping silent about, though — but one of the loudest ones was the 1980 Plesetsk incident. Sixteen years later, independent investigators determined that this launch pad disaster happened because fuel filters for hydrogen peroxide were designed with catalytically active materials.
How many space accidents have there been?
It’s difficult to provide an exact number on how many space disasters have happened. There have been numerous space missions throughout the years, and definitions for the term “accident” are also quite a few. But disasters mentioned above have been confirmed by various reputable sources – even if confirmations sometimes took years, as was the case with the Nedelin catastrophe in 1960. This disaster at Baikonur Spaceport in Kazakhstan took the lives of 78 to 126 people, according to various sources.
More horrible disasters that have been officially confirmed include:
- R-16 intercontinental ballistic missile failed to launch during a test because the rocket was defective and had many flaws.
- Soyuz 11 crew members were found dead inside their spacecraft’s cabin because of decompression, as their ship depressurized at a high altitude.
- Buran tragedy from 2002.
- Chinese Xichang explosion.
- Alcântara launch site explosion, Sriharikota, and others.
What was the worst accident in space?
According to Orbital Today and other sources, the Challenger catastrophe in 1986 is one of the worst space disasters so far. After nine successful flights, the Challenger broke up 73 seconds after liftoff. All seven of its crew members died. Challenger was one of the most tragic space disasters because it happened so unexpectedly and was broadcast on live TV, too. While the cabin didn’t suffer too much damage and was partially intact, crew members were completely blown apart.
As a reminder, Challenger was a partially reusable space shuttle operated by NASA. Its first flight was in April 1981, whereas its missions have been conducting in-orbit research and deploying commercial, scientific, and military payloads. You can visit several memorials that honor the Challenger disaster and its astronauts at the Challenger Center for Space Science Education.
But how many space shuttle disasters happened? Fortunately, only two space shuttle disasters, Challenger and Columbia, took place. Sadly, both the Challenger and Columbia disasters involved the deaths of crew members. Still, Columbia’s story is different as this shuttle broke down on the descent. The ship lost pressure and got out of control during re-entry, only to break apart in the end and kill all seven crew members.
Now, what about NASA’s most famous shuttle, Discovery? The good news is that there hasn’t been a Discovery space shuttle disaster, and this spacecraft is now safely retired at the Smithsonian. This shuttle rightfully deserves its spot in the museum because it was one of NASA’s best orbiters to fly in space – so at least Discovery’s story is not tragic or associated with any disasters.
What astronauts didn’t return after space disasters?
No astronaut has ever been lost in space, not literally, at least. So far, most people died during launch or re-entry. But could crew members be potentially lost? So far, this development is very unlikely because spacecraft systems don’t allow such situations to happen. Additionally, astronaut tracking and communication systems always rely on mission control, so they can’t get lost in space. Astronauts can’t float away either because they use tethers that don’t allow this to happen
So far, a total of 21 people have lost their lives in space because of spacecraft malfunctions. One of these astronauts died because of health reasons. Astronaut Sergei Krikalev was lost (or rather stuck) in space for 311 days, yet he managed to come back home on March 25, 1992. He was on Mir the entire time and even though this mission lasted longer than intended, it did not end up in disaster.
Wrapping it all up, we can say that the space disaster fatality rate is not too high. Besides, humanity’s new stage of exploration uses more advanced tech than the 20th-century developments, so we can hope the disaster stats will not increase as we keep exploring the stars.
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