In the 20th century, mankind has been able to advance into the future more than in its entire history. A car and a steam locomotive were invented, electricity and nuclear power were discovered, a man took to the air and overcame the sound barrier, a computer, mobile communications and other wonderful things were invented. However, the main achievement of mankind is considered access to space. After the flight of Yu. A. Gagarin, a new science appeared - cosmonautics.
However, life requires payment for everything. And astronautics is by no means an exception. To reveal the secrets of the universe, hundreds of daredevils risked their lives. After the fall of missiles, transport disasters may not be considered serious at all.
Your attention is invited to the story. They are about some rocket disasters (TOP), which are considered the loudest in the history of astronautics.
Fall from space. Boris Volynov
The story about the most famous missile disasters (TOP) needs to start with this event. It happened on January 18, 1969. A few days before this, the first successful docking of Soyuz-4 and Soyuz-5 was held. The crew of Soyuz-4 has already returned. Boris Volynov was supposed to go down alone.
A few minutes remained before disconnecting. There was a clap - it was the squibs that shot the descent compartment. Suddenly, the hatch pressed inside, like a tin can lid. The planned descent turned into an erratic fall.
After 10 minutes of falling, the lander began to rotate randomly. And at that moment Volynov decided ... to conduct a direct report on what was happening. This could be needed by the astronauts following him. Every 15 seconds, he transmitted instrument readings to the ground, tried with all his might to somehow influence the situation.
90 km from the Earth, the descent capsule was detached from the main ship. She freed herself from the excess load and ... caught fire. The camera began to fill with smoke. At an altitude of 10 km a parachute opened, but its slings began to twist. In the end, this should have led to its folding. But the latter did not happen. Spinning in different directions, the apparatus approached the ground.
The soft landing engine was delayed. The blow turned out to be so strong that the roots of the upper teeth broke in the astronaut.
Boris Volynov landed with an incompletely opened parachute, all beaten, but alive.
Bad start. Soyuz-18
This happened on April 5, 1975. On this day, the Soyuz-18 spacecraft was launched to dock with the Salyut-4 orbital station. On board were cosmonauts V. Lazarev and O. Makarov.
Frequent catastrophes of Soviet missiles pursued science. Described below is no exception.
Troubles began already at the 289th second of the flight, when a command was to be given to turn off the engine of the second stage. Due to the breakdown of the relay, a command to reset the tail of the third stage was passed in parallel.
Violation of the process of separation of steps led to the appearance of rotation. At the 295th second, it led to the Crash team. The ship split and began to descend. During the accident, the descent control system lost its orientation in space. Simply put, it began to confuse the top and bottom, which led to the passage of a number of incorrect commands. In particular, instead of reducing the overload, it increased to a life threatening 21.3 g. And this despite the fact that the maximum overload on the simulators was 15 g.
Terrible things began to happen to the astronauts. Sight began to disappear. At first it became black and white, then it began to narrow. On the recommendation of doctors, the astronauts tried to scream loudly. True, their wheezing was a little like human. However, this did not last long. After a few minutes, the overload began to decline. The parachute system worked, and the device sank onto the slope of one of the Altai mountains.
The R-16 missile. The accident of Mitrofan Nedelin
At that time, rocket disasters in Baikonur were rare, since the spaceport itself appeared recently. The catastrophe that occurred on October 24, 1960 is considered the most terrible in the history of astronautics.
That day, work was underway at launch pad No. 41 to prepare designer Mikhail Yangel for the launch of the R-16 intercontinental rocket. After a full refueling, experts found a malfunction in the engine automation. Such cases required the complete release of the rocket from fuel and only after that proceed with troubleshooting. However, this would delay the launch of the rocket, which would certainly lead to a "wick" from the government.
In order to avoid such troubles, Marshal M. I. Nedelin ordered to eliminate the malfunction on a fueled rocket. No sooner said than done. No one expected a fall of rockets, a transport accident, or something like that. The object was surrounded by dozens of specialists. The marshal himself began to observe the progress of work, settling on a stool several tens of meters from the rocket body. The catastrophe was still not expected.
However, everything went well only until the announcement of a 30-minute readiness. The corrected automation unit was supplied with power. And suddenly the second-stage engine worked. A powerful jet of burning gas escaped from a height. Most people, including Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin himself, died instantly. The remaining workers rushed into the loose. However, it was not possible to escape far: the row of barbed wire enclosing the construction site was insurmountable. Hellfire evaporated people, leaving only the outlines of figures, pieces of charred belts and melted buckles.
It is believed that 92 people died and 50 were injured in this disaster. From Marshal M. Nedelin they found only the star of “Hero of the Soviet Union”. Designer Mikhail Yangel at the time of the accident moved into the security bunker, which saved his life.
The death of Soyuz-11
This incident is also on the list of "Missile Disasters: TOP-10", so it is impossible to bypass it.
The tragedy described below occurred on June 30, 1971. On this day, astronauts G. Dobrovolsky, V. Volkov and V. Patsaev, who worked on board the Salyut-1 orbital station for 23 days, returned to earth. Having sat down in their places and wearing seat belts, they proceeded to check the operation of the on-board systems. No deviations were found.
The Soyuz-11 descent module entered the Earth’s atmosphere at the estimated time. Parachute deployment was recorded 9 km from the surface, but the crew did not communicate. The radio antenna sewn into his slings often refused to land, so they were not wary of the MCC. Such a nuisance often accompanied the disasters of the Soviet missiles, but she was not fatal. 2 minutes after landing, people ran up to the rescue capsule. No one answered the knock on the wall. Opening the hatch, they found astronauts with no signs of life. They were quickly dragged out and started resuscitation. Attempts to revive the crew lasted more than an hour, but brought no results - the astronauts died.
The investigation showed that the death of our guys occurred as a result of the unauthorized opening of one of the air valves, whose task was to equalize the air pressure inside the descent module. It randomly opened at an altitude of about 150 km. Air left the cab in a few seconds.
The position of the bodies of the astronauts testified to the presence of attempts to find and eliminate the malfunction. But in the fog that filled the cabin after depressurization, it was difficult to do. When G. Dobrovolsky (according to other sources, V. Patsaev) discovered an open valve and tried to close it, he simply did not have enough time. All the air has already left.
Soyuz-1. The death of Vladimir Komarov
Frequent catastrophes of missiles in the USSR continued with the same intensity. Here is another example.
The Soyuz-1 ship was launched on the night of April 23, 1967. The next morning, all the newspapers of the Soviet Union reported this on the front pages, posting on them, in addition to information, a photo of cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. The next day it reappeared in its former place, but already clothed in a mourning frame - the astronaut died.
The rise of Soyuz-1 was not satisfactory. The rocket carrier delivered the ship into orbit without any problems. They started later. The incomplete opening of the duplicate antenna of the telemetry system and the failure of the star orientation system were the smallest of them. The second solar panel did not open - that’s where the trouble is. The attempt to orient the working panel on the Sun was unsuccessful, the balance was disturbed. The ship began to lose energy, which threatened him with death. But in manual mode V. Komarov was able to orient the ship, get out of orbit and begin landing.
Another accident occurred 9.5 km from the ground when the sensor issued a command to release a parachute. In Soyuz-1 there are three of them: exhaust, brake and main. The first two came out successfully, and the third got stuck. The descent module began to spin rapidly. The astronaut decided to activate a reserve parachute. He came out normally, but upon opening his slings were wrapped around a dangling brake. They extinguished the dome.
Komarov died instantly. The module went half a meter underground from the impact. The resulting fire was not immediately extinguished, so only the charred remains of the astronaut had to be buried in the Kremlin wall.
Rocket crash in Plesetsk
On April 23, 2015, Russian and foreign media rushed to report the unsuccessful launch of an experimental launch vehicle. It should be noted that in the Western press such words as “another catastrophe”, “rocket explosion”, “Plesetsk cosmodrome”, went through all the messages. However, they forgot an important thing. Missile catastrophes in Russia are not as frequent as in the USSR. So what happened?
According to the press service of the Government of the Russian Federation for the Arkhangelsk Region, an experimental rocket launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome was discovered 7 kilometers from the launch site. According to special services, the scene of the incident was taken into development by the specialists of the test site. There is no threat to nearby settlements.
The rocket was used to launch a satellite equipped with measuring equipment into orbit. The Strategic Rocket Forces Command said it had nothing to do with the incident and knew nothing about the launch. After much clarification, it became known that the device belongs to one of the defense enterprises, and more precisely, to the plant engaged in the development of the Yars and Topol missiles. So of the three constantly expressed expressions, such as: "disaster", "rocket explosion", "Plesetsk cosmodrome", only the latter can be considered true.
Death before the start. Apollo 1
It turns out that missile catastrophes at the start pursued not only the Soviet cosmonautics. The story described below cannot actually be considered to be the end of it, after all, the rocket did not take off.
The name "Apollo-1" (Apollo-1) was given after the fact that the failed launch of the Apollo ship and Saturn IBA204 launch vehicle. It was supposed to be the first manned flight. It was planned for February 21, 1967. However, on January 27, during a ground test in the 34th launch complex, a severe fire occurred on board the ship, as a result of which the entire crew of V. Grissom, E. White and R. Chaffee died.
As the atmosphere, pure oxygen was pumped into the Apollo series ships under reduced pressure. Its use gave not only savings in weight, but also the ability to facilitate the life support system. In addition, the operation to go into outer space was simplified, because in flight the pressure in the cabin should have been only 0.3 atm. However, such conditions cannot be reproduced on earth, so pure oxygen with overpressure was used.
At that time, experts did not yet know that some materials, when used in oxygen, are fire hazardous. One of those was Velcro. In an oxygen environment, it has become a source of many sparks. In this case, one would be enough for a fire.
The fire spread through the ship in a few seconds, damaging the spacesuits of the astronauts. In addition, a complex system did not allow the crew to quickly open the hatch. According to the findings of the commission, the astronauts died a quarter of a minute after the appearance of the spark.
After the fire, the manned flight program was suspended, and the 34th launch complex was dismantled. A memorial tablet was placed on its remains.
The unsuccessful mission of Apollo 13
The unsuccessful mission of the Apollo 13 spacecraft (Apollo-13) is also entering missile disasters. Our TOP cannot do without it. His story is no better and no worse than previous and subsequent. It’s just different.
The Apollo 13 space shuttle detached from the surface of the Earth on April 11, 1970, to deliver earthlings to the moon. It was piloted by Jim Lovell (captain), Fred Hayes and John Swaygate. Two days of flight passed normally. It all started on April 13th. And the day is almost over. It remains only to mix the fuel in order to find out its remains. And here…
At first there was a loud bang, after which a real blast wave swept through the ship. It turned out that one of the tanks with liquid oxygen was destroyed. On the dashboard signal lamps began to light up. Through the thick glass of the porthole, the astronauts saw a strong stream of gas beating from the service module into outer space. It turned out that the explosion completely destroyed the first oxygen tank and damaged the second. Despite all efforts, the damage could not be fixed. Soon the ship was left without water, electricity and oxygen. Then, the chemical batteries installed in the command module “died”. In order to stretch for some more time, it was decided to move to the lunar module. But what's next?
The head of the American MCC Gene Kranz decided to deploy the Apollo using the force of gravity of the moon. The astronauts turned on the lunar module engine, but the ship began to spin. It took Jim Lovell two hours to learn how to maneuver the ship in the new conditions and direct it in the right direction. Having flown around the moon, Apollo 13 rushed to the Earth.
After numerous adventures that fell to astronauts, they splashed down in a given area. Three exhausted, shaken and awake people returned home.
The Challenger Crash
In the 80s of the last century, space rocket disasters haunted America's astronautics. One example is described below.
This disaster happened on January 28, 1986. On this day, numerous gathered at the cosmodrome of Cape Canaveral, in the state of Florida (USA), could observe an orange-white fireball in the clear sky. It appeared 73 seconds after the start, when, as a result of insufficient tightness of the sealing rubber at one of the solid fuel boosters, the Challenger space shuttle exploded. The American space program has lost Francis Scobey, Michael Smith, Ronald McNair, Allison Onizuku, Gregory Jarvis and Christy MacAuliffe. The latter was not a professional astronaut - she worked as a teacher in one of the high schools in Lanema. She was included in the team at the insistence of Ronald Reagan himself.
The night before the start, the air in Florida cooled to -27 ° C. All the surroundings, including the ship’s hull, were icy. The start should have been postponed, especially since one of the Rockwell engineers responsible for the start warned about this. However, they did not listen to him. The ship stubbornly led to death.
16 seconds after the launch, the shuttle completed a graceful turn and headed outside the atmosphere. Suddenly, a flickering light appeared between the bottom of the ship and its fuel tank. A moment later, a series of explosions rang out. The ship fell to pieces and fell into the water. All the astronauts died almost instantly.
The words "Challenger", "rocket", "catastrophe" described what happened American newspapers. The nation mourned. The development of the space program was suspended for three years. However, it was still not completely closed.
The death of Colombia
The crash of Columbia is considered one of the most significant events in the history of space. It happened on February 1, 2003. This is associated not only with the number of astronauts who died simultaneously, but also with the influence that was exerted on the development of space science.
The start of Colombia was postponed several times. The first flight was planned on May 11, 2000. There was a time when he was generally excluded from the schedule, but the American Congress intervened. True, the flight took place after more than two years.
And here he is starting. Commander Rick Douglas Hazband, pilot William C. McCool, specialists David M. Brown, Kalpan Chawl, Michael F. Anderson, Laurell B. Clark and Israeli astronaut Illan Ramon boarded the ship. The start was filmed by several television cameras. Such precautions help to examine in more detail the various deviations, if any. It was with their help that, at the 82nd second of the flight, a small bright object was recorded that hit the left wing of the shuttle. Subsequently, it turned out that it was a piece of mounting foam that struck the left wing of the ship and pierced a half-meter hole in it. The simulations performed by NASA did not reveal possible negative consequences, so the flight continued.
The first sign of malfunction was noticed during the landing maneuver at 16 h 59 min in Washington. Abnormal readings of pressure sensors were noticed by everyone. The failure was attributed to a bad connection. But it was at this time that the destruction of the ship's hull began. It crumbled to pieces in less than a minute. All astronauts perished.
Many secrets of missile disasters are not yet declassified. When they open - it is not known. But something you still learned. Did you like it?