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NASA's space program has gone through some devastating accidents throughout the years. Here are some of its notable space adventures gone wrong.
During a routine pre-launch test of Apollo 1 in 1967, a spark ignited the pure oxygen atmosphere inside the sealed capsule. It killed astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee within seconds.
In 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after launch when a faulty O-ring seal was compromised by cold temperatures. The issue caused a catastrophic explosion that killed all seven crew members. Sadly, this included Christa McAuliffe, who would have been the first teacher in space and had planned to conduct live lessons from orbit.
The Space Shuttle Columbia exploded during reentry on February 1, 2003, killing all seven crew members. The cause of the accident was a piece of insulating foam that weighed less than the average hamburger—which struck and damaged the shuttle's wing during launch.
During NASA's Apollo 13 mission in 1970, an oxygen tank explosion 200,000 miles from Earth forced the crew to survive for four days in the lunar module—a spacecraft designed for only 45 hours of life support.
During NASA's Gemini 8 mission (1966), astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott faced near-disaster when a malfunctioning thruster sent their spacecraft spinning at a terrifying rate of one revolution per second, forcing the first-ever emergency splashdown in spaceflight history.
In 1967, test pilot Michael J. Adams died when his X-15 rocket plane disintegrated during atmospheric reentry at Mach 5. Later, the investigators found his wedding ring 20 miles away from the main crash site.
NASA lost its $125 million Mars Climate Orbiter in 1999 when engineers mixed up metric and imperial units. It caused the spacecraft to disintegrate in Mars' atmosphere.
On January 16, 1966, a USAF KC-135 tanker exploded mid-flight over southern Spain. Four hydrogen bombs were scattered across the countryside, leading to a massive recovery operation where one bomb was found by a local fisherman who unknowingly used its parachute as a boat sail.
During NASA astronaut training in 1966, a T-38 jet crashed into the McDonnell Aircraft building in St. Louis. The crash killed astronauts Elliot See and Charles Bassett when thick fog caused them to strike the roof while attempting to land.
During NASA's final Skylab mission (1973–1974), the three astronauts staged a one-day strike in orbit, shutting off radio contact with ground control after growing frustrated with their grueling 16-hour workdays. The rebellion led to improved work-life balance for future space missions.
After astronaut Gus Grissom's Liberty Bell 7 splashed down from its successful 15-minute suborbital flight, the explosive bolts on the capsule's hatch detonated, causing the spacecraft to flood and sink 15,000 feet into the Atlantic Ocean where it remained undiscovered for 38 years. It was finally found again in 1999.
A NASA contractor fell to his death while performing routine maintenance on Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in 2011. It was the first fatal accident at the historic pad.
In 1967, Neil Armstrong ejected to safety just seconds before NASA's $2.5 million Lunar Landing Research Vehicle—violently crashed and erupted into a fireball at Ellington Air Force Base.
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