Space Disasters

Each new era of space exploration is built on the courage of those who came before. And as today’s visionaries set their sights on trips to Mars and colonies on the moon, we must pay a debt to the trailblazing pilots and engineers who risked it all to reach for the stars. Join us as we examine the heart-pounding missions and gut-wrenching catastrophes of NASA’s first decade of space flight, from the very first space plane—the X-15—to the lunar landing program, including the Apollo 1 tragedy, which nearly ended the dream of reaching the moon.

It’s one of the most challenging and dangerous phases of space exploration: bringing a spacecraft back to Earth. For decades, NASA and Soviet engineers and designers have struggled to build machines that can withstand the unforgivable heat and unthinkable speeds caused by re-entry into our atmosphere. Join us on some white-knuckled journeys home, as we reveal terrifying close calls, and devastating failures just moments from touchdown, from the tragic maiden flight of Soyuz to the 1979 Skylab panic to the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

In space, there are few second chances. When something goes wrong, it’s up to astronauts and Mission Control to come up with a solution together…and quickly. Witness some of the most unexpected accidents in the history of spaceflight, from Neil Armstrong’s head-spinning flight aboard Gemini 8, to the 1997 air leak at the Russian space station Mir, to the race to fix an ISS solar panel tear in 2007. Then see how quick thinking and human ingenuity—on the ground and hundreds of miles above the Earth—help keep emergencies from becoming disasters.

In the high-stakes arena of outer space, the smallest human error can have huge consequences, and as NASA has discovered over the decades, nobody—no matter how well they’re trained—is perfect. When mistakes happen, it’s up to the astronauts and the ground teams at Mission Control to prevent the mishaps from turning into deadly disasters. Witness some of space exploration’s most costly miscalculations and narrow escapes, involving a stripped screw, a distracted spacecraft pilot, a botched re-entry, and a malfunctioning $19 million toilet.

From launch to re-entry, astronauts battle the unexpected at every turn. Often the challenges they face are weather related…above and below the atmosphere. From freezing conditions on the launch pad to radioactive solar storms in space and from liftoff lightning strikes to hurtling orbital space junk, we examine how Mission Control and flight crews attempt to overcome the elements brought on by nature and by past missions. Rarely seen NASA footage and interviews with surviving astronauts bring these disastrous moments to life.

Sending spacecraft into orbit is an unforgiving business. Every launch is a long, controlled explosion that can turn into a fiery spectacle at the smallest error. Join us as we examine space exploration’s most disastrous liftoffs, from America’s “risky rockets” (the Vanguard, Atlas, and Titan II) to the Nedelin catastrophe, a massive explosion that Russia kept secret for decades. Then see how lessons learned from early failures led to soaring triumphs, including the most famous and powerful rocket the world has ever launched: the Saturn V.