Today, mankind has already learned so much about the mystery of the universe. Successful space explorations led to discoveries of the cosmos.
In the previous decades, mankind was able to send numerous spacecrafts and satellites to space. Agencies such as NASA has successfully sent man to orbit the Earth, and even to walk on the moon.
But before mankind enjoy the success that it is enjoying now in space exploration, many failures were experienced. In this article, let's explore the unforgettable spaceflight accidents and disasters.
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1. Apollo 1 Accident
Probably, one of the accidents when it comes to space exploration that is forever etched in history is the Apollo 1 accident. This fatal accident in the history of U.S. space flight happened on January 27, 1967. This happened during the preparations for the first manned space mission of the Apollo space program, as per History.
During a simulated launch at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, there was a flash fire that broke out in the command module of Apollo 204. The accident killed astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee due to asphyxiation.
2. Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
The space shuttle Challenger disaster happened on January 28, 1986. The disaster is considered as one of the most devastating one in the history of space exploration, as per Britannica.
All astronauts on board died, including civilian Christa McAuliffe who is a participant in NASA's Teacher in Space project. McAuliffe was supposed to teach classes and conduct experiments while in space.
Because of the disaster, the space shuttle program was temporarily suspended. Rogers Commission was also created in order to identify the cause and fault of the disaster.
3. Soyuz 1 Accident
Soyuz 1 accident occurred just three months after the Apollo 1 fire, on April 24, 1967. The accident occurred when Soyuz 1, the first Soviet space vehicle designed to reach the moon, crashed into Earth killing Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov.
At the time of the mission, Soyuz 1 was still in the experimental stage. Problems in the spacecraft began as soon as it entered the orbit.
While the team aborted the mission, it experienced a difficult reentry into Earth's atmosphere, and the parachutes failed to deploy correctly resulting to a violent crash.
4. Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster
One of the most traumatic accidents when it comes to space exploration was the disintegration of the space shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003.
A large piece of foam, which is made to absorb and insulate the fuel tank of the shuttle, fell on the shuttle's left wing and created a hole.
When the Columbia tried to reentry after the mission, gases and smoke pass through the left wing through the hole. The wing eventually break off, and the rest of the shuttle disintegrate, as per Britannica.
The entire crew comprised of six American astronauts and the first Israeli astronaut died in the accident. The space shuttle program of NASA was once again suspended because of the disaster.
5. Soyuz 11 Disaster
Because of the space race between the US and Russia, the Russians established the world's first space station, Salyut-1, in April 1971. They sent three cosmonauts aboard Soyuz 11.
The supposedly successful mission turned into a tragedy when the ground team opened the hatch that returned to Earth. To everyone's horror, all three cosmonauts are unresponsive.
What happened was the cabin was depressurized and the cosmonauts, who were not wearing space suits, suffocated to death.
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