Missile catastrophes: TOP-10. The most unsuccessful launches of missiles in the history of space exploration

In the 20th century, mankind was able to advance into the future more than in its entire history. They invented a car and a locomotive, opened electricity and nuclear power, a man climbed into the air and overcame the sound barrier, invented a computer, mobile communications and other wonderful things. However, the main achievement of mankind is considered to be space exploration. After the flight of Yu. A. Gagarin, a new science appeared - astronautics.

However, life requires payment for everything. And cosmonautics is by no means an exception. To discover the secrets of the universe, hundreds of brave souls risked their lives. After the fall of missiles, the catastrophe in transport can be considered not serious at all.

We offer you stories. They are about some missile catastrophes (TOP), considered the loudest in the history of astronautics.

The fall from outer space. Boris Volynov

The story about the most famous missile catastrophes (TOP) needs to start with this event. It happened on January 18, 1969. A few days before that, the first successful docking of Soyuz-4 and Soyuz-5 took place. The crew of Soyuz-4 has already returned. Boris Volynov was to go down alone.

Until the moment of disconnection, there were several minutes left. There was a clap of cotton - it kapropatrony shot the descent compartment. Suddenly, the hatch was pushed inside, like a lid of a tin can. The planned descent turned into a disorderly fall.

After 10 minutes of falling, the landing vehicle began to rotate chaotically. And at this moment Volynov decided ... to conduct a direct report on what was happening. This could be necessary for the astronauts, who followed him. Every 15 seconds he sent to the ground the readings of the instruments, with all his might tried to somehow influence the situation.

At 90 km from the Earth, the capsule dropped from the main ship. She freed herself from excess weight and ... caught fire. The cell began to fill with smoke. At a height of 10 km, a parachute opened, but its lines began to twist. In the end, this should lead to its folding. But the latter did not happen. Spinning in different directions, the device approached the ground.

The soft landing engine worked late. The impact was such a force that the astronaut broke the roots of the upper teeth.

Boris Volynov landed with an incompletely opened parachute, all beaten, but alive.

Unsuccessful start. Soyuz-18

This happened on April 5, 1975. On this day, the Soyuz-18 was launched to dock with the Salyut-4 orbital station. On its board were pilots-cosmonauts V. Lazarev and O. Makarov.

Frequent The catastrophe of Soviet missiles pursued science. The description below is not an exception.

The trouble began already at the 289th second of the flight, when the command to switch off the engine of the second stage was to be given. Because of the breakdown of the relay, the command to reset the tail of the third stage was parallel.

Violation of the process of separation of stages led to the appearance of rotation. At the 295th second, it led to the team "Accident". 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 top and bottom, which led to the passage of a number of incorrect commands. In particular, instead of reducing the congestion, it was followed by an increase to 21.3 g, dangerous for human life. And this despite the fact that the maximum overload on the simulators was 15 g.

Scary things began to happen to the cosmonauts. The sight begins to disappear. At first it became black and white, then it began to narrow. According to the recommendations of the doctors, the cosmonauts tried to shout loudly. True, their wheezing was little like the human. However, this continued for a relatively short time. After a few minutes of reloading began to decline. The parachute system worked, and the device descended to the slope of one of the Altai mountains.

The R-16 rocket. Accident Mitrofan Nedelina

At that time, the catastrophe of missiles at Baikonur was a rarity, since the cosmodrome itself appeared only recently. The catastrophe that took place on October 24, 1960 is considered the most terrible in the history of space exploration.

On that day, at the launch pad No. 41, preparations were under way for the launch of the intercontinental R-16 rocket designed by Mikhail Yangel. After carrying out the full refueling, the specialists found a malfunction in the engine automation. Such cases required completely to free the rocket from fuel and only after that start troubleshooting. However, this would delay the launch of the missile, which would certainly lead to a "wick" from the government.

To avoid such trouble, Marshal MI Nedelin ordered to fix the malfunction on the loaded rocket. No sooner said than done. Nobody expected a missile crash, a transport accident, or something like that. Dozens of specialists clung to the object. The marshal himself began to observe the progress of work, settling on a stool several tens of meters from the missile's hull. The catastrophe was still not expected.

However, everything went well only until the announcement of the 30-minute readiness. The corrected automation unit was supplied with power. And suddenly the engine of the second step worked. A powerful jet of burning gas escaped from the height. Most people, including Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin himself, died instantly. The rest of the workers rushed to the loose. However, it was not possible to escape far: a number of barbed wire enclosing the construction site was insurmountable. Hellfire evaporated people, leaving only the outlines of figures, pieces of charred belts and refined buckles.

It is believed that 92 people were killed in this catastrophe and 50 were injured. Marshal M. Nedelin found only the star of the "Hero of the Soviet Union". Designer Mikhail Yangel at the time of the accident went into the security bunker, which saved his life.

The death of the "Union-11"

This case is also included in the list of "Missile catastrophes: TOP-10", therefore it is impossible to bypass it.

The tragedy described below occurred on June 30, 1971. On this day, cosmonauts G. Dobrovolsky, V. Volkov and V. Patsayev, who worked on board the Salyut-1 orbital station for 23 days, returned to earth. Having settled in their seats and fastened their seat belts, they began to check the operation of the on-board systems. There were no abnormalities.

In the atmosphere of the Earth, the Soyuz-11 descent module entered the estimated time. Discovery of the parachute was recorded at 9 km from the surface, but the crew did not leave for communication. Radio antenna, sewn into its lines, often refused to land, so the MCC was not alerted. Such trouble often accompanied the catastrophe of the Soviet Missiles, but it was not fatal. 2 minutes after the landing, people ran up to the rescue capsule. No one answered the knock on the wall. Opening the hatch, they found the astronauts with no signs of life. They were quickly pulled out and started resuscitation. Attempts to revitalize the crew lasted more than an hour, but the results did not bring - the astronauts were killed.

The investigation showed that the death of our children was caused by the unauthorized opening of one of the air valves, the task of which was to equalize the air pressure inside the descent module. It arbitrarily opened at an altitude of about 150 km. The air left the car in a few seconds.

The position of the astronauts' bodies indicated the existence of attempts to find and eliminate the malfunction. But in the fog that filled the cabin after depressurization, it was difficult to do it. When G. Dobrovolsky (according to other sources, V.Patsayev) discovered an open valve and tried to close it, he simply did not have time. The whole air is already out.

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 was launched on the night of April 23, 1967. The next morning all the newspapers of the Soviet Union reported this on the first pages, placing on them, in addition to information, a photo of cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. The next day it reappeared in its original place, but already dressed in a mourning frame - the cosmonaut died.

The take-off of Soyuz-1 did not provoke criticism. The launch vehicle delivered the ship into orbit without problems. They began later. The incomplete opening of the duplicating antenna of the telemetry system and the failure of the orienting system by the stars were the smallest of them. The second panel of solar panels has not opened - that's where the trouble is. Attempt to orient the working panel on the Sun was unsuccessful, the balancing was broken. The ship began to lose energy, which threatened his death. But in a manual mode V. Komarov was able to orient the ship, to descend from orbit and proceed to landing.

Another accident occurred 9.5 km from the ground, when the sensor commanded the release of 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 rotate rapidly. The cosmonaut decided to activate the reserve parachute. He went out normally, but when he opened his lines, they wrapped around the dangling braking. They then put out the dome.

Komarov died instantly. From blow the module has left on полметра under the earth. The arisen fire could not be extinguished immediately, therefore, the funeral of the astronaut had to be buried in the Kremlin wall.

The fall of the rocket in Plesetsk

April 23, 2015, Russian and foreign media rushed to report on the unsuccessful launch of the experimental launch vehicle. It should be noted that in the Western press such words as "another catastrophe", "rocket explosion", "Plesetsk cosmodrome" Passed through all the messages. However, they forgot an important thing. The catastrophe of missiles in Russia is 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 cosmodrome of Plesetsk was discovered 7 kilometers from the launch site. As reported by special services, the scene of the incident was taken into development by specialists of the test site. The threat to nearby settlements is missing.

The rocket was used for launching into orbit a satellite equipped with measuring equipment. The command of the strategic missile forces declared that it has nothing to do with the incident and does not know anything about the launch. After long inquiries it became known that the device belongs to one of the defense enterprises, or rather the plant that is engaged in the development of the Yars and Topol missiles. So, of the three constantly expressed expressions, such as "catastrophe", "rocket explosion", "Plesetsk cosmodrome", only the latter can be considered true.

Death before the start. Apollo 1

It turns out that the catastrophe of missiles at the start pursued not only the Soviet cosmonautics. The story described below can not really be considered as such, however, the rocket did not take off.

The name "Apollo-1" (Apollo-1) was post facto assigned to the failed launch of the Apollo ship and the Saturn IBA204 launcher. This was to be the first manned flight. He was scheduled for February 21, 1967. However, on January 27, during a ground test in the 34th launching complex, a severe fire occurred on board the ship, as a result of which the entire crew of V. Grissom, E. White and R. Chaffi died.

As the atmosphere in the ships of the Apollo series, pure oxygen was injected under reduced pressure. Its use provided not only savings in weight, but also the ability to facilitate the life support system. In addition, the operation to go out into space was simplified, because in flight the pressure in the cabin was to be only 0.3 atm. However, such conditions can not be reproduced on the ground, so pure oxygen with excess pressure was used.

At that time, experts did not yet know that some materials when used in the oxygen environment are fire hazardous. One of those was a velcro. In the oxygen medium, it became the source of many sparks. In this case, for the emergence of a fire would be enough and one.

The fire spread through the ship in a few seconds, damaging the cosmonaut's spacesuits. In addition, the complex system did not allow the crew to quickly open the hatch. According to the conclusions of the commission, astronauts were killed within a quarter of a minute after the appearance of the spark.

After the fire, the manned flights program was suspended, and the 34th launch complex was dismantled. A memorial tablet was installed on his remains.

The unsuccessful mission of "Apollo 13"

The unsuccessful mission of the Apollo 13 spacecraft (Apollo-13) is also part of the missile catastrophe. TOP our can not do without it. His story is no better and no worse than previous and subsequent. It's just she's different.

The space shuttle Apollo 13 pulled away 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 Swagate. Two days of flight passed in normal mode. It all started on the 13th of April. And the day is almost over. It remains only to mix the fuel in order to know its remains. And here…

First there was a loud clap, after which a real blast wave swept the ship. It turned out that it was destroyed one of the tanks with liquid oxygen. Signal lamps began to light up on the dashboard. Through the thick glass of the porthole, the astronauts saw how a strong gas stream strikes the open space from the service module. It turned out that the explosion completely destroyed the first oxygen tank and damaged the second one. Despite all efforts, the damage was not 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 a while, it was decided to move to the lunar module. But what's next?

The head of the American TsUPa, Gene Krantz, decided to deploy the Apollo using the force of the Moon's gravity. The astronauts turned on the engine of the lunar module, but the ship began to rotate. It took two hours for Jim Lovell to learn how to maneuver the ship in the new conditions and direct it in the right direction. Flying around the moon, Apollo 13 rushed to the Earth.

After numerous adventures, dropped out to astronauts, they were destroyed in a given area. Three exhausted, chilled and not slept people returned home.

Catastrophe "Challenger"

In the 80s of the last century, the catastrophe of space rockets pursued the astronautics of America. One example is described below.

This catastrophe happened on January 28, 1986. On this day, numerous Cape Canaveral assembled at the cosmodrome in the state of Florida (USA) could observe an orange-white fireball in the clear sky. It appeared 73 seconds after the start, when a space shuttle Challenger exploded on one of the solid-fuel accelerators as a result of insufficient tightness of the sealing rubber. American space travel has lost Francis Scobie, Michael Smith, Ronald McNair, Allison Onizuku, Gregory Jarvis and Christy McAuliffe. The latter was not a professional cosmonaut - she worked as a teacher in one of the secondary schools in Lanema. She was included in the team at the insistence of Ronald Reagan himself.

At night before the start, the air in Florida cooled to -27 ° C. All surroundings, including the hull of the ship, were icing. The start should be postponed, especially since one of the Rockwell engineers responsible for the start warned of this. However, he was not listened to. The ship stubbornly led to destruction.

In 16 seconds after the start, the shuttle made a graceful turn and headed out of the atmosphere. Suddenly a flickering twinkle appeared between the bottom of the ship and its fuel tank. A moment later a series of explosions was heard. The ship fell to pieces and fell into the water. All the astronauts died almost instantly.

The words "Challenger", "rocket", "disaster" described what happened American newspapers. The nation mourned. The development of the space program was suspended for three years. However, it was not completely closed yet.

The death of Columbia

The catastrophe of Columbia is considered one of the most significant events in the history of space exploration. 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.

Start "Columbia" was postponed several times. The first flight was planned for May 11, 2000. There was a time when he was expelled from the schedule altogether, but the US Congress interfered. True, the flight took place more than two years later.

And here it starts. On board the ship commander Rick Douglas Hazband, pilot William C. McCool, specialists David M. Brown, Calpane Chavl, Michael F. Anderson, Lorell B. Clark and Israeli astronaut Illan Ramon rose. The start was filmed by several television cameras. Such precautions help to consider in more detail various deviations, if they arise. It was with their help that on the 82nd second of the flight a small light object hit the left wing of the shuttle. Subsequently it turned out that this was a piece of mounting foam that hit the left wing of the ship and punched in it a half-meter hole. The NASA simulation did not reveal any possible negative consequences, so the flight continued.

The first sign of a malfunction was noticed at the landing maneuver at 16:55 in Washington. Abnormal readings of pressure sensors were noticed by everyone. The fault was written off for a bad connection. But it was at this time began the destruction of the hull of the ship. It crumbled into pieces in less than a minute. All astronauts were lost.

Many mysteries of missile catastrophes have not yet been declassified. When they are discovered, it is not known. But something you all the same learned. Did you like it?