This week in the anniversaries of three space disasters we are remembering the astronauts who have lost their lives pursuing our common dream for space exploration.

1. Great disasters in the history of spaceflight

2. Jan 27, 1967
On January 27, 1967 Apollo 1 astronauts Gus Grissom,
Ed White and Roger B. Chaffeewere killed in a fire that
broke out during a dress rehearsal of the launch. The
accident happened less than a month before the
scheduled take-off of the first manned Apollo mission. An
electric spark caused a fire that quickly spread in a pure
oxygen atmosphere of the cabin. The “plug” hatch
prevented the evacuation of the crew.
Apollo 1 was a test mission. The goal of the expedition
was to orbit around the Earth for up to two weeks and test
the “mother ship”, the command module in which the
following crews will travel to the Moon.
After the tragedy, the Apollo program was paused for
almost two years. The engineers redesigned the hatch so
that it now allowed for a quick evacuation. They also got
rid of all the flammable materials and started using
nitrogen-oxygen air during the tests. The first successful
manned Apollo mission was Apollo 7 (October 11-22,
1968).

3. On January 28, 1986 NASA Space Shuttle Challenger fell apart 73
seconds after the take-off. All seven crew members, five NASA
astronauts and two payload specialists, were killed during the
accident.
Challenger mission was supposed to carry out several experiments
and deploy two satellites. One of the crew members, high-school
teacher Christa McAuliffe, was to broadcast two space lessons as a
part of a Teacher In Space project.
What went wrong?
The tragedy had to do with the solid rocket boosters located on both
sides of the spacecraft. Each booster was made of four fuel tanks
seated one on top of the other with rubber seals (so-called O-rings) in
between.
It was a very chilly launch day at Cape Canaveral on Jan 28. The
rings were never tested in such low temperatures. Therefore the
engineers were concerned whether the rings can still operate safely.
NASA managers, being under pressure to deliver the payload to orbit
on time, gave a green light to the launch despite the
recommendations of the specialists. During the take-off two of the seal
rings failed, the spacecraft disintegrated killing the crew of
Challenger, Dick Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Ronald McNair, Ellison
Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe.
Jan 28, 1986

4. February 1, 2003
On February 1, 2003 the Space Shuttle Columbia fell
apart during the reentry after spending 16 day in orbit. The
entire crew, Rick D. Husband, William C. McCool, Ilan
Ramon, Michael P. Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David M.
Brown, Laurel Salton Clark, died in the accident.

5. What went wrong?
This tragedy had to do with another Shuttle’s component, external
tank (orange part on the picture), that contained liquid hydrogen and oxygen.
Since the two had to be kept at low temperature, the external tank was
covered with orange insulation foam. It was a well known problem that pieces
of foam fell off during the take off, some of them striking the spacecraft and
even leaving dents.
During the January 16, 2003 take-off a piece of the insulation foam the size of
a briefcase peeled off from a fuel tank and hit the left wing of the spacecraft.
The incident was only spotted on the 2nd day of Columbia’s mission when the
ground team reviewed the footage of the launch. The astronauts were notified
about the foam incident but assured that it will pose no danger to their
return.The scientists and engineers on Earth, on the other hand, were very
concerned. They wanted to use a satellite to look at the possible damage, but
sadly were refused.
The experts later concluded that the foam made a hole in the wing. On the
reentry the hot air entered the wing and broke the spaceship apart.
The disasters of Apollo 1, Shuttle Challenger and Shuttle Columbia will always
remind us how daring, challenging and unforgiving the space travel is. Yes, it is
not safe. And probably will never be. But will it stop us?

6. Would you like to learn more?
•Visit our inflatable space dome and learn more about
space exploration
•Watch the New York Times report about the Challenger
disaster
•Read the NASA report about Changes in Shuttle Post
Challenger and Columbia
•Send your questions and comments to our portable
planetarium team