Command pilot Neil Armstrong and pilot Dave Scott had just completed the first space docking with an Agena target rocket when the combination went into a spin. One of the spacecraft's thrusters was firing continuously due to a short circuit. Armstrong undocked from the Agena and the spinning got worse. An emergency set of thrusters on Gemini 8 was fired to bring the capsule under control, and an immediate return to Earth was ordered. The craft landed in the Pacific Ocean, and the crew and spacecraft were picked up by the U.S. Navy.
January 27, 1967
Apollo 1
A flash fire occurred in command module 012 during a launch pad test of the Apollo/Saturn space vehicle being prepared for the first piloted spaceflight, the AS-204 mission. Three astronauts died in the accident: Virgil 'Gus' I. Grissom, a veteran of Mercury and Gemini missions; Edward H. White, who performed the first spacewalk during the Gemini program; and Roger B. Chaffee, an astronaut preparing for his first spaceflight. The Apollo program was delayed by 21 months.
April 24, 1967
Soyuz 1
Soon after reaching orbit on April 23 during its maiden crewed flight, Soyuz 1, piloted by veteran cosmonaut Vladimir M. Komarov, encountered technical problems. The launch of Soyuz 2 to dock with Soyuz 1 was canceled, and attempts were made to return Komarov to Earth. Komarov reentered Earth's atmosphere on the 18th orbit, but the main parachute of the new Soviet spacecraft failed to deploy properly and Soyuz 1 plummeted to Earth, catching fire on impact. Komarov was killed instantly; he was the first person to die in a space mission. The accident delayed crewed Soyuz flights for 17 months.
April 11-17, 1970
Apollo 13
Fifty-six hours into a routine flight to the Moon to complete the third crewed landing, an oxygen tank in the Apollo service module ruptured and damaged several of the power, electrical, and life support systems. Although there was not enough air, water, and electricity in the Apollo capsule to sustain the astronauts until they could return to Earth, the service module was still connected to the lunar module, a self-contained spacecraft unaffected by the accident. With the lunar module providing power and propulsion, the crew of Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise returned safely to Earth on April 17.
June 30, 1971
Soyuz 11
Having completed a record-breaking 23 days in space, most of it aboard the USSR's first space station, Salyut 1, Georgi Dobrovolsky, Vladimir Volkov and Viktor Patsayev were killed in space just before reentry when the cabin of Soyuz 11 sprang a leak. The cosmonauts were not equipped with spacesuits, which could have saved them. The craft made an automatic reentry and landing.
January 28, 1986
Space shuttle Challenger, STS-51L
Seventy-three seconds after launch from the Kennedy Space Center, at about 11:40 am, an explosion destroyed the space shuttle Challenger and killed the seven crew members aboard the craft. The explosion was a result of a leak in one of the space shuttle's two solid rocket boosters. The accident prompted a major redesign of the solid rocket boosters and other shuttle systems, as well as substantive reforms in the management, safety, and procedures of human spaceflight. The space shuttle program was delayed until September 1988.
February 1, 2003
Space shuttle Columbia, STS-107
After a successful 16-day scientific mission, Columbia broke up during its descent from orbit, resulting in the loss of the vehicle and all seven crewmembers. The shuttle was traveling at 20,100 km/h (12,500 mph) at an altitude of 63 km (39 mi) at the time of the incident. Initial investigations indicated a problem with the shuttle's left wing, which may have been damaged by external fuel tank insulation that came loose and fell on the orbiter's wing during launch.
Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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