10 of the most notorious disasters in cosmonautics

For the last hundred years, man has learned about the cosmos more than in the whole previous history. And yet it is difficult to find a more risky and full of danger profession than an astronaut. For the opportunity to touch the secrets of the universe, desperate brave souls, often have to pay with their own lives.

Today, we combined 10 of the most high-profile disasters in the spacecraft in our collection of .Many of them were classified and for many years even the relatives and friends of the astronauts themselves did not know about them. Other disasters occurred almost in the air, affecting millions of people around the world.

10." Soyuz-6 "

When landing in January 1969the instrument cluster and the landing vehicle were not divided. The cladding of both parts of the ship began to melt during descent, the fuel tanks exploded. Fortunately, the landing system worked and allowed to plant the dilapidated "Union".Cosmonaut Boris Volynov miraculously survived in this accident.

9. Soyuz-18

Rising to a height of 192 km, the ship fell into an uncontrollable fall. The astronauts suffered an overload equal to 21g. However, the landing system still worked and Soyuz landed on the slope of the Altai Mountains, parachute clinging to the pine.

8. "Soyuz T-16"

The first stage of the rocket caught fire during the launch in September 1983.Fortunately, this was noticed by the "shooting" officer and gave the command to launch an emergency rescue system. The ship soared a kilometer up and landed near the stratum with two cosmonauts on board.

7. "Apollo 13"

The explosion of the oxygen cylinder on board and the painful return to Earth in the lunar module in April 1970 formed the basis of the Hollywood movie of the same name. This unsuccessful flight to the moon lasted 7 days, more than half of which the astronauts conducted at an air temperature of no higher than 11 degrees in a state of almost complete immobility.

6. "Soyuz-1"

In 1967, the USSR leadership did its utmost to catch up with the Americans, who had escaped forward in the space race. The launch of Soyuz-1 took place in an atmosphere of haste, which was the reason for the tragedy. The ship went out of order system orientation, and when landing refused both parachutes. The flight of the "Union" ended with the death of cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov.

5. "Apollo-1"

This disaster happened on Earth. A month before the scheduled launch, a fire broke out on the ship. At this time inside the "Apollo" were 3 astronauts who burned alive within 14 seconds. The cause of the fire was badly insulated wiring.

4. Cosmos-2251 and Iridium 33 satellites

The first collision of two artificial Earth satellites occurred in 2009.The speeds of both satellites were approximately equal - 7470 m / s. As a result of the collision in the orbit of the planet, about 600 fragments of different sizes were formed, which are still "floating" in the near-Earth space.

3. Soyuz-11

Soyuz-11 entered orbit in 1971 with three astronauts on board. For 23 days, Soyuz worked in space, and the tragedy occurred during the return to Earth. Arrived at the landing site, the search team found that the entire crew was dead. The cause was depressurization.

2. "Challenger"

In January 1986, dozens of reporters arrived at Cape Canaveral to watch the launch of the space shuttle. The start was broadcast on satellite TV, so hundreds of thousands of spectators became witnesses of the disaster. On the 73rd second of the flight, one of the shuttle's parts came off and broke through the fuel tank, which led to an explosion and the immediate death of 7 crew members.

1. "Colombia"

In February 2003, this shuttle returned from its 28th flight.16 minutes before the proposed landing, "Columbia" began to fall apart in the air. All crew members died .The wreckage of the shuttle flew across the territory in a couple of dozen square kilometers.