Challenger Memorial
A stone monument (right) to the seven Challenger
astronauts is located in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. The astronaut’s faces and
names are carved into a plaque on the stone. The
monument also includes the words of a famous
poem “High Flight.” John Gillespie Magee Jr. wrote
the poem in 1941. President Ronald Reagan
included phrases from Magee’s poem when he
honored the Challenger astronauts in 1986.
44
}
A NASA crash investigator compares debris
from the space shuttle Columbia to a photograph of the shuttle to try to better
understand the cause of the disaster.
45
When the VLS
rocket exploded, }
it destroyed the
launchpad too.
The country of Brazil in South
launch rockets carrying satellites into
America dreamed of being a space
space. However, the rockets did not
power. It wanted to launch satellites
work properly. In August 2003, Brazil
into orbit around Earth. By 2003 only
got ready to try again. A new rocket,
a few other countries—including the
called the VLS, was ready for launch.
United States, China, Russia, and
It would carry two satellites into space.
fourteen nations of Europe—had space
Three days before the launch, on
programs. Brazil’s leaders wanted to
August 22, workers were making
join those countries in space.
preparations. About eight hundred
In 1997 and 1999, Brazil tried to
people were at work near the rocket.
46
“Everybody is just devastated.
“Everybody is just dev
—Brazilian air force colonel Rom
”
—Brazilian air force colonel Romeo Brasileiro
Some of Brazil’s smartest rocket
Brazil had to hire and train new
scientists were there. At about one
space scientists to replace those who
thirty in the afternoon the fuel inside
had been killed. It had to build a new
of one of the rocket’s engines
launchpad for its rockets. It took
accidentally caught on fire. The whole
fourteen months before Brazil could
rocket exploded in a huge fireball. The
finally launch a rocket into space. But
explosion was so powerful that people
the disaster gave
heard it 40 miles (64 km) away.
Brazil’s rockets a bad
The explosion killed twenty-one
name. No other
workers, including some rocket
countries wanted to
scientists. It seriously injured about
buy rockets from
twenty others. The explosion also
Brazil.
damaged the launchpad. It destroyed
the rocket, which had cost $6.5 million
to build.
Eyewitnesses described the scene.
“The launching pad collapsed and the
Before launch,
Brazil’s space
technicians were working there,” said
}
scientists had
Jose Veigas Filho, a Brazilian
high hopes for
government official. “We had just
the VLS rocket.
done two days of tests
and everything went well,
100 percent,” noted
Brazilian air force colonel
Romeo Brasileiro.
“Everybody is just
devastated.”
The wreckage of the VLS
rocket and launchpad, }
photographed three
days after the explosion
SPACE DISASTERS ARE TERRIBLE. THEY KILL AND INJURE PEOPLE. THEY CAN
DESTROY SPACECRAFT THAT COST BILLIONS OF DOLLARS. HOWEVER, SPACE
DISASTERS ALSO TEACH US LESSONS THAT CAN MAKE SPACEFLIGHT SAFER IN
THE FUTURE. FOR INSTANCE, THE SOYUZ 11 DISASTER SHOWED SCIENTISTS THE
IMPORTANCE OF HAVING ASTRONAUTS AND COSMONAUTS WEAR SPACE SUITS
DURING TAKEOFF AND LANDING. ENGINEERS AT NASA AND OTHER SPACE
AGENCIES ARE CONSTANTLY WORKING TO MAKE SPACEFLIGHT EVEN SAFER.
THE CONSTELLATION PROGRAM
The United States uses its space shuttles to build the International Space Station. After that job is done, NASA will stop using the space shuttles.
The shuttles may be put on display in museums, where people can climb inside them.
How will astronauts fly without space
shuttles? How will they reach the space
Columbia’s Worms
station to live and do experiments there?
NASA plans to build a new group of
All seven astronauts died on
spacecraft. These spacecraft will have new
Columbia in 2003. But thousands of
supercomputers that make them safer.
beings survived the disaster. Those
They will be built with lighter, stronger
survivors were tiny roundworms.
materials. The new spacecraft will be part
Scientists had put the worms on
of NASA’s Constellation program.
the shuttle to study how the
Constellation astronauts may fly to
worms’ bodies might change in
the Moon. (The last piloted flight to the
space. The worms lived inside metal
Moon was in 1972.) They may even fly
cans. The cans made it through the
to Mars, where astronauts have never
crash undamaged. Rescue workers
gone before.
found the cans while searching for
the wreckage of Columbia in Texas.
48
Astronauts train in the
} newest version of the
space suit in April 2007.
The Orion spacecraft—one of the new Constellation vehicles—will be ten times safer than the old space shuttles. For instance, if Orion’s main rocket explodes during launch, a small emergency rocket will blast the rest of Orion away from the explosion. Then a parachute will open. The parachute will slow Orion as it falls to the ground or water.
LESSON NOT
LEARNED
Making spacecraft safe isn’t easy.
Many good ideas don’t get put into
action. That’s because spacecraft are
one-of-a-kind vehicles. They cost
millions and even billions of dollars
to construct. New safety systems are
also expensive. They take a long
time to build and test. Decision
}
makers hesitate to spend the time
and money on a new, unproven safety
Workers unload a large section of debris
from Challenger into a U.S. Coast Guard system—especially one that might
boat in January 1986.
never be used.
The 1986 Challenger disaster offers an example of a safety lesson not
learned. Recovery workers think that some of Challenger’s astronauts survived the space shuttle explosion. They may have been alive when their cabin fell into the Atlantic Ocean. If the cabin had had an ejection system, like that used on military airplanes, the surviving crew members could have escaped the shuttle. The system could have shot them out of the wreckage. They could have floated to Earth using parachutes. After the Challenger and Columbia disasters, sa
fety experts suggested installing ejection systems on space shuttles. But equipping space shuttles with ejection systems would be costly and very complicated. Some experts doubted that the systems could be made to work effectively. So NASA decided not to install ejection systems on space shuttles.
50
}
NASA representatives show off
a model of the new Orion
spacecraft in August 2006.
51
DODGING THE JUNK
No matter how safe future spacecraft may be, dangers will remain. Space junk will be one of the most serious problems. As more and more countries launch spacecraft and satellites, more and more space junk will zoom around Earth like bullets. However, engineers are also building more powerful radar systems. The new systems may be able to spot even the tiniest pieces of space junk.
YOUR FUTURE IN SPACE?
In the future, you may fly in space. You and your family may be able to orbit Earth on a passenger spaceliner. Several companies have started taking reservations for space tours. The companies will take people into space on private (nongovernment) spacecraft. How much will a ticket cost?
At least $200,000. A U.S. government agency, the Federal Aviation Administration, will make sure that private
The first space tourist,
spacecraft are safe.
American billionaire Dennis
A few wealthy people have already become space
Tito, speaks with journalists
tourists. They have paid Russia for a ride to the ISS and from the International Space
back in a spacecraft. The first space tourist was U.S.
}Station in 2001.
businessman Dennis
Tito. He paid $20
million for a ride
into space in 2001.
52
“The next time I go into space,
“The next time I go into spa
I’ll be able to take my family with me.
y family with m
—Kathryn Thornton, former NASA astronaut, on spa
”
—Kathryn Thornton, former NASA astronaut, on space tourism, 2006
}
Space shuttle Discovery blasts off
from Kennedy Space Center.
Timeline
1960 A rocket explodes at the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan in the former Soviet Union. Ninety-one
people die.
1961 Yuri Gagarin (right), a Soviet cosmonaut, becomes the first human to orbit Earth. He travels in a spacecraft named Vostok 1.
1964 During construction of a satellite at Cape Canaveral, Florida, a rocket engine starts accidentally. Hot gases fill the room, killing three workers.
1967 During tests on the ground, fire breaks out in Apollo 1, killing three astronauts: (left to right below) Edward White, Virgil Grissom, and Roger Chaffee.
1969 Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong is the first person to walk on the Moon.
1970 Three U.S. astronauts
barely escape death
when an explosion
damages Apollo 13.
The astronauts use
part of the spacecraft
as a “lifeboat”
(right) to carry them
back to Earth.
1971 Soyuz 11, a Soviet space capsule, malfunctions upon landing. Air leaks out of the craft, killing three cosmonauts.
54
1980 A blast at the Plesetsk space center in the former Soviet Union kills fifty technicians. The Soviet government keeps the accident a secret until 1989.
1986
The space shuttle
Challenger (left)
explodes seventy-four
seconds after launch.
The accident kills
seven astronauts,
including
schoolteacher Christa
McAuliffe.
1996 Ariane 5, a European rocket carrying four satellites, crashes immediately after launch.
1998 NASA and other agencies launch the first part of the International Space Station (right)
into space.
2000 Astronauts live in the International Space Station for the first time.
2003 The space shuttle Columbia explodes and breaks apart (left) as it returns to Earth. Seven astronauts die.
2005 Insulation breaks off Discovery during launch, but the shuttle completes its
mission safely.
55
Glossary
artificial satellite: a human-made object
meteoroids: small pieces of rock that travel
that circles around Earth, the Moon, or
through space
another body in space
orbit: to circle around the Sun, Earth, or
astronaut: a person who travels in space
another body in space
atmosphere: a layer of gases surrounding a
radar: a device that uses radio waves to
planet
detect objects in the air and space
cosmonaut: a Soviet or Russian astronaut
rockets: engines that propel satellites, space
capsules, and space shuttles into space or
engineer: a person who designs equipment
through space
and vehicles, such as spacecraft
space: an airless region that begins about 62
insulation: material that prevents the
miles (100 km) above Earth’s surface
passage of heat, cold, sound, or
and extends throughout the entire
electricity. Insulation on spacecraft
universe
protects astronauts and equipment from
extreme heat and extreme cold.
valve: a mechanical device that starts, stops,
or controls the flow of liquid, gas, or
International Space Station (ISS): a large
other material from one place to another
satellite orbiting Earth. People can live
and work at the station for months at a
time.
56
Places to Visit
Armstrong Air and Space Museum
National Air and Space Museum
http://www.ohiohistory.org/places/armstrong/
http://www.nasm.si.edu/
This museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio, is named for
The museum, located in Washington, D.C., offers
Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the
exhibits on the history of aviation and space
Moon. Visitors to the museum can enjoy a multi-
exploration.
media presentation in the Astro-theater and learn
San Diego Air and Space Museum
all about the wonders of space.
http://www.aerospacemuseum.org/visit/
Henry Crown Space Center, Museum of Science and
This museum in California includes exhibits on air
Industry
and space travel, including the International
http://www.msichicago.org/
Aerospace Hall of Fame. Visitors can even pilot
The space center at the Museum of Science and
the F-22 Raptor, a military fighter jet, in a
Industry in Chicago, Illinois, offers displays on
simulator.
piloted and unpiloted space missions. Displays
U.S. Space and Rocket Center
include the Apollo 8 command module, the first http://www.spacecamp.com/museum/
piloted spacecraft to orbit the Moon.
At this museum in Huntsville, Alabama, young
John F. Kennedy Space Center
people can attend Space Camp. There, they can
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/
wear space suits, eat space food, and even test
visit/index.html
out real space equipment.
At the Kennedy Space C
enter in Florida, visitors
can find out all about the U.S. space program,
from its earliest days to future missions.
57
Source Notes
5 BBC, “Columbia: The Last Communication,” BBC
21 Ibid.
News, February 2, 2003, http://news.bbc.co.uk/
21 Ibid.
2/hi/americas/2717533.stm (August 12, 2006).
21 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
26 Charles R. Grosvenor Jr., “Memories of the
5 Andy Gallacher, “Nacogdoches in Trauma,” BBC
Challenger,” inthe80s.com, 2006, http://www.inthe News, February 3, 2003, http://news.bbc.co.uk/
80s.com/dynamic/challenger15.shtml (September
1/hi/world/americas/2721929.stm (August 3,
17, 2006).
2006).
27 NASA, “Transcript of the Challenger Crew
7 Ibid.
Comments from the Operational Recorder,”
9 Imaginova Corp., “Astronaut Biography: Michael
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Anderson, Space.com, June 30, 2005,
February 3, 2003, http://www.hq.nasa.gov/
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/bio_mike_
office/pao/History/transcript.html (September 10,
anderson.html (September 24, 2006).
2006).
13 NASA, “Disaster at Pad 34,” National Aeronautics 27 Charles R. Grosvenor Jr., “Memories of the
and Space Administration, September 15, 2006,
Challenger,” inthe80s.com, 2006, http://www.inthe http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/
80s.com/dynamic/challenger11.shtml (September
SP-4204/ch18-5
17, 2006).
.html (August 12, 2006).
27 Charles R. Grosvenor Jr., “Memories of the
13 Ibid.
Challenger,” inthe80s.com, 2006, http://www.inthe 80s.com/dynamic/challenger9.shtml (September
13 Ibid.
17, 2006).
13 Ibid.
29 William J. Broad, “The Shuttle Explodes: 6 in
13NASA, “Tragedy and Recovery 1967,” NASA,
Crew and High-School Teacher Are Killed 74
October 23, 2004, http://history.nasa.gov/
Seconds After Liftoff,” New York Times, January 28, Apollo204/chariot.html (August 12, 2006).
1986, 1.
17 Ronald Reagan Foundation, “Address to the
37 Paul Murdin, “The Fiery Death of Ariane 5,”
Nation on the Challenger Disaster,” Ronald Reagan
Journal of the British Astronomical Association 106, no.
Space Disasters Page 4
