An Antares rocket that exploded in Virginia six seconds after launch was not the first spacecraft disaster faced by NASA.
On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff, taking the lives of seven astronauts aboard the vehicle. One of the crew members lost that chilly winter day was schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.
The Space Shuttle Columbia, the first one to launch to space, was destroyed when it broke up on re-entry through the atmosphere in 2003. The disaster, caused by the loss of heat-resistant tile on the underside of the craft, killed all seven astronauts aboard.
The Vanguard TV3 was the first American attempt to launch a satellite into space, following Russia's successful flight of Sputnik. The Vanguard mission was also the first launch failure - the rocket lifted just four feet off the ground before losing thrust, and falling back to Earth. The fuel tanks exploded, remarkably throwing the satellite clear of the explosion. That payload is currently on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
"The exact cause of the accident was never determined, presumably it was due to a fuel leak between the fuel tank and the rocket engine, possibly due to a loose connection in a fuel line or low fuel tank pressure allowing some of the burning fuel in the thrust chamber to leak back into the fuel tank," NASA officials wrote on a Web page describing the mission.
Apollo 6 was the last automated test flight of the Saturn 5 launch system before humans would be placed aboard the craft for Apollo 7. Just two minutes and five seconds after launch, a constantly-changing fuel flow rate resulted in periodic thrusts, called pogo oscillations, after the bouncy children's toy. Additional problems during flight included two of the five engines failing during ignition of the second stage, as did the lone third-stage motor. Although the vehicle did reach space, it failed to reach its goal of 100 miles above the Earth.
Following the tragic loss of the Challenger in 1986, NASA attempted a mission that was supposed to be straightforward - launching the Goes-G weather satellite. Everything was proceeding normally with the launch when it was struck by lightning. Just 71 seconds after engine ignition, the booster experienced an electrical short, shutting down one of the main engines. Mission planners were forced to destroy the craft to prevent potential damage on the ground.
The Demonstration for Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) Spacecraft was designed to dock with other spacecraft, delivering needed repairs in space. Designers from NASA believed the vehicle, launched in 2005, would allow maintenance of satellites, without the need to launch human missions. Autonomous space craft navigation systems aboard the vehicle failed, and it crashed into its target, rather than docking with it.
There is a saying in the space business that a rocket is a bomb with one open end. It will be a long time before space travel is as safe as air travel.
