4 Cases When Astronauts Didn't Return Home

The conquest of spaces unusual for a person like the depths of the sea, the Far North, and even more so space is always associated with huge risk and requires superhuman strength and courage. Today we will talk about four cases when astronauts, alas, could not return to Earth.

• 1. Vladimir Komarov: the first victim of space and not the first victim of the USSR

  The first cosmonaut in history whose life was claimed by space exploration was Vladimir Mikhailovich Komarov. The tragedy happened on April 24, 1967.

  The first steps of mankind in space were triumphant, and the Soviet authorities were very fond of everything triumphant. It had to be so triumphant so that the “decaying West” was to be beaten and the Secretary General could be pleased. The Kremlin wanted to celebrate the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Great October Revolution with a new technical sensation. Back in 1964, Khrushchev and others demanded that the first multi-seat spacecraft be made and, accordingly, tested.

  In 1964, Korolev Construction Bureau engineers developed another spaceship, “Voskhod”, based on the Gagarin ship “Vostok”. Three cosmonauts of the smallest stature without spacesuits were placed there. The first test launch was carried out on October 12-13, 1964: engineer Konstantin Feoktistov and doctor Boris Yegorov went into orbit on it, the pilot was Vladimir Komarov. The first time everything went well, no one was hurt.

  Later, engineers created the famous “Soyuz-1” on a proven base, and they are still in use. The spaceship has a successful construction, but this could not be said about the first version. Here the matter was greatly spoiled by the traditional Soviet haste and lack of testing.

  On April 23, 1967 the shape shuttle with Komarov started. Problems began already after 540 seconds: one of the solar panels did not open, the backup antenna of the telemetry system also did not open, the cover of the solar-star sensor remained in the closed position, some of the devices simply did not work due to the ill-fated solar battery - how could they work without energy. It was impossible to navigate by the stars, and the space ship began to rotate around its axis. Komarov's attempt to correct the situation only worsened the situation.

  After five orbits, the MCC decided to abort the flight. The cold-blooded and brave pilot Komarov fought for 5 hours with the equipment in the void of space and, in an incredible way, was able to direct the space ship to the landing area. He even successfully entered the dense layers of the atmosphere and dropped the first cosmic velocity ...

  At 06:22 in the Adamovsky district of the Orenburg region, the landing capsule crashed into the ground at high speed and caught fire. The pilot chute did not open. The spare parachute worked, but due to the rotation of the capsule, the slings were twisted. As it turned out, because of the rush, they simply didn’t have time to check the pulling force. The last words of Vladimir Komarov were: “I am in a chair, tied with belts. I feel great, everything is fine.” Everyone should have so much courage.

• 2. "Soyuz-11": depressurization of the landing spaceship

  Vladislav Volkov, Georgy Dobrovolsky and Viktor Patsaev were the names of the cosmonauts who died in 1971 as a result of depressurization of the landing capsule.

  It all started on June 6, 1971. Then the “Soyuz-11” spacecraft launched from Baikonur, and a day later it successfully docked to the “Salyut-1” orbital station with the crew on board.

  “Soyuz-11” is a family of manned spacecraft that could also accommodate three cosmonauts. They came to replace the "Vostok". The dimensions of the cabin were still small and did not allow the crew to be inside in spacesuits. A distinctive feature of the modification was the presence of a docking manhole. Prior to this, astronauts moved from ship to station through open space. “Salyut-1” was the first station of its kind; it was put into orbit on April 23, 1971.

  The main task of the space expedition was successful docking with the space complex and conducting experiments. Previously, this was not possible.

  The crew fully completed the expedition program; they spent 23 days, 18 hours and 21 minutes in space. On June 29, “Soyuz-11” successfully undocked from the station, all the systems worked as usual, the crew was able to successfully direct the spacecraft to the landing area. But the astronauts were not destined to return home.

  At the height of 150 km from the earth, at the moment of separation of the landing spaceship from the instrumental and orbital compartments, the connection disappeared abruptly.

  According to the instruments in the control center, it was clear that the speed and trajectory of the landing were normal, the device landed as expected. But upon arrival at the landing site, they found that the crew was dead.

  The special commission established that the cause of death was the depressurization of the landing spaceship, or rather, explosive decompression.

  Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsaev were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The urns with the ashes of the dead cosmonauts are buried in the Kremlin wall on Red Square in Moscow.

• 3. “Challenger” disaster: eerie live broadcast in the USA

  This nightmarish incident occurred on January 28, 1986 in America. The crew of the “Challenger” shuttle of seven, which included a school teacher, died during the takeoff of the ship. The particular horror of this story is that the launch was covered on an incredibly large scale, the tragedy occurred literally in front of the entire nation.

  Here are the names of those who died that day: Commander Francis "Dick" Scobie, Co-Pilot Michael J. Smith, Science Specialists Allison Onizuka, Astronauts Judith Resnick and Ronald McNair, Aerospace Engineer Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from New Hampshire who were Specialists by payload.

  On the morning of launch day, it was unusually cold at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The control center arranged three checks of the takeoff area. Ice formed there, but after the third check it was reported that the ice had melted. The launch had already been delayed several times before, and the command was in doubt. Nevertheless, they decided not to postpone the start: a huge number of people and the media gathered on the site.

  And then the fatal moment comes: the shuttle takes off into the air, but at the 73rd second it is torn to pieces, and two solid-fuel boosters continued their chaotic flight until they were destroyed remotely from the ground.

  The cause of the disaster was damage to the sealing ring of the right accelerator during launch due to low temperatures. A hole was formed in the side of the accelerator at the start, from which a jet blasted towards the external fuel tank. Under huge aerodynamic loads, the entire complex began to deform and eventually completely collapsed, and the fuel tank exploded.

  The more durable crew compartment remained relatively intact, but due to depressurization, all crew members died. As it became known later, some astronauts were still conscious for some time, while the shuttle flew to pieces. The wreckage fell into the Atlantic Ocean, and hundreds of thousands of Americans watched the chilling tragedy live and with their own eyes. Polls have shown that 85% of US citizens learned about the tragedy in the first hour after the explosion.

  Later, a government commission established that the main cause of the accident was the "lack of corporate culture" at NASA. The dangers of starting at low temperatures were known, as were the shortcomings of O-rings.

  After this incident, American shuttles began to be equipped with emergency escape systems. But even they would not have been able to save the crew of the Challenger, as the experts wrote in the reports.

• 4. Shuttle "Columbia": explosion during reentry

  The crew of the space shuttle “Columbia” died on February 1, 2003. At that time the 28th flight of this machine was coming to an end. The crew included Commander Richard "Rick" D. Husband, Co-Pilot William "Willie" C. McCool, Flight Engineer Kalpana Chawla, Payload Specialist Michael F. Anderson, Zoologist Laurel B.S. Clark, scientists David McDowell Brown and Ilan Ramon.

  After 16 days of flight, the shuttle returned to Earth. At 08:59:32 EST, the control center lost contact with the crew. The last words on the air were "Roger, uh, bu..."

  Laurel Clark (on the left), Pilot William McCool (in the center) and Commander Rick Husband (on the right) in the flight deck of Space Shuttle Columbia shortly before re-entry on February 1, 2003. The 13-minute video was found in the wreckage of the Space Shuttle Columbia near Palestine, Texas, five days after the shuttle crashed.

  After 16 minutes, the shuttle was supposed to land on the runway of the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At 09:12:39, the mission control center receives information that one of the TV channels is broadcasting footage of the disaster.

  Many eyewitnesses filmed how the burning wreckage of the ship flew from the sky. All crew members were doomed to death.

  NASA investigators examine the wreckage of the Space Shuttle Columbia on April 8, 2003 at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. NASA is trying to collect the debris of the shuttle to find out what caused the collapse of the "Columbia" during re-entry

  As it turned out later, the cause of the disaster was the destruction of the outer heat-shielding layer on the left wing of the shuttle. Even at the start on January 16, part of the thermal protection of the external fuel tank fell on it. This is a porous material that covers the tank so that it does not freeze.

  At the start, a piece of such protection flew into the wing and deformed the protective layer. At the site of damage during landing, there was much greater friction against the air, as a result of which the hull was depressurized, hot gases got inside, the pneumatics of the left landing gear overheated critically and the shuttle exploded.

  NASA, according to a number of sources, did not pay due attention to the damage assessment. In investigating the details of the tragedy, a flight recorder helped, which might not have existed. Previously, the shuttles were not equipped with "black boxes", this model was the first in the series.