Space Disasters

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Space Disasters Page 4

by Michael Woods


  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.

 

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