How many people have gone into space without returning back to Earth?
Every astronaut has ever gone into space and has yet to return. Some didn’t survive the launch or landing, but all returned, either alive or deceased. The vast majority, over 97%, have returned alive.
There have, however, been 12 people who have crossed the Karman line and died before landing. I’m being a bit technical here. The count would be 19 if you included all fatalities of people on flights above the Karman line, but the Challenger disaster never made it to space.
So, by the strictest reading of your question, the Challenger crew, as brave as they were and as tragic as their flight was, wouldn’t count as having gone into space and not returned alive.
If we keep flying crews in space, there will inevitably be some unfortunate crew that never comes home. I hope that day is a long, long way off. But I don’t think, statistically, that that can be prevented entirely.
As for the furthest anyone has ever gone, that honour goes to Apollo 13, who, partly because of their near disaster, went on a trajectory that took them 400,171 km or 248,655 mi from Earth. Should developments on crewed missions to the Moon shortly continue, I’d bet that record gets broken in the next ten years.
How many people have gone into space without returning back to Earth?
Everyone who has gone into space has returned. Most alive, some not. The farthest anyone has gone is orbiting around the back side of the Moon.
To date, the farthest anyone has gone from Earth was the crew of Apollo 13 when it swung around the moon. I know that no one has gone to space without returning to Earth. They may not have all been alive or in one piece when they returned to Earth, but due to gravity, they did return to Earth.
Has any astronaut ever desired to stay in space instead of returning to Earth after the mission was completed?
This is a very interesting question for me and, as usual, I have an answer for you!
When the Discovery mission STS-120 launched in late October 2007, I knew I was going home. I had spent nearly five months living and working aboard the International Space Station (ISS), but I worked extremely hard not to think about returning to Earth. I needed to keep my focus on the mission and not start daydreaming of reuniting with my family… for fear something would happen to “upset the apple cart.”
My wife and I had discussed this many times. “What ifs” abounded about the negative possibilities a space launch and mission could entail (think Challenger and Columbia). In the latter portion of my 5-month stay, we had both agreed we could “stick it out a little longer.”
By that, we meant postponing our longed-for reunion for another month or two would be survivable… but not necessarily desirable. Much longer than that would present a hardship for both of us.
You may ask why. Why would an astronaut —living their dream, flying in outer space, pushing the boundaries of science, becoming more famous every single day and every single Tweet— want to come back? Why not stay up longer and do more good for our planet and the people of our world? My answer is simple.
How many people have gone into space without returning back to Earth?
I had a wife and children I loved. My place was back on Earth, and Twitter didn’t exist. Don’t forget that my spouse was running our entire household all by herself… and for much longer than just the short time I was in space.
She had become the focus of our kids and our family’s Chief Operations Officer when I started to travel back and forth to Russia during a 3.5-year training endeavour.
She assumed every role —mom, dad, nurse, lawn care provider, chauffeur, repair person, counsellor, financier— you name it, she did it! She had sacrificed much, including her career advancement, for me to live my dream. To me, that’s what love is all about.
Please understand my time in space was wonderful. It was exciting, it was incredibly challenging and rewarding, and it was fun! I would love to go back…, on my terms, not NASA’s. But my life’s priorities are not negotiable, and my family is at the top.
Can an astronaut get lost in space while doing a spacewalk?
I know of at least one astronaut (no, it wasn’t me!) who did get lost on an International Space Station (ISS) spacewalk. When the “… I need a GCA” call comes over the loops, it means one needs a Ground Controlled Approach.
A term used by military jet/aircraft fliers (and I’m guessing commercial pilots), the call indicates a request for the “ground controller” to talk you into the runway.
The air traffic controller will give you various pieces of info that —typically provided by your cockpit instruments (altitude, speed, heading, glide path angle, etc.)— are not available. Perhaps due to a malfunction or adverse weather conditions, they help guide an aircraft to a safe landing., based primarily on radar images.
For an astronaut amid a spacewalk to call for a GCA, it means they are disoriented and need to figure out where they are or where to head next. In addition, they may not be given their spacewalking partner, who could help by providing direction.
How many people have gone into space without returning back to Earth?
If that is not the case, the IVA astronaut (inter-vehicular astronaut) will answer the call and will, in response, provide various cues to help the spacewalker recapture their position and orientation.
Examples might include, “…, EV2, if you rotate 90 degrees left, you’ll get a view of the S0 truss,” or “…, look left zenith (up) to see the Ammonia Tank Assembly on the port side,” or some such information. Hopefully, that would be enough to figure out the situation.
If I ever found myself in this scenario, a brief pause and a good look around would have been enough to get my bearings straight so I could continue. In the highly competitive world of spacewalking, calling for a GCA might even be detrimental to one’s EVA career, so enjoy it while you can!
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Have any astronauts floated away in space?
No. We use ropes to ensure that can’t happen.
In 1973, the value of that tether was proven when Pete Conrad and Joe Kerwin were doing an EVA on Skylab. They were trying to repair a solar array when it suddenly deployed, throwing them off the space station.
Their ropes were the only thing that stopped them from floating away to their deaths.
In 1984, we did the first spacewalk without a rope. The purpose of that spacewalk was to test an MMU (Manned Maneuvering Unit) – essentially a jet-powered backpack that allowed a crew member to control their movement in space.
Although we don’t use that MMU today, we have a smaller version that US astronauts wear for emergencies in case the rope fails.
How many people have gone into space without returning back to Earth?
How many astronauts have been lost in space? Who were they?
Actually, in space? Zero. We’ve lost 17 astronauts (Cosmonauts are a different story) in spaceflight activities in the atmosphere.
Apollo 1: During a plugs-out test of the Apollo hardware (which in its first version could be charitably described as a “flying turd”), a combination of factors including overpressure (+1 atmosphere), pure oxygen environment, an egress hatch that opened inward, and excess velcro and other flammable material plus a spark from somewhere under the astronauts’ couches caused a conflagration from which there was no hope of escape.
Three astronauts were killed (likely by inhalation of toxic fumes from the Velcro burning) very quickly.
Gus Grissom – Gus was a crusty spaceflight veteran when the Apollo program rolled around. Spaceflight had been trying to kill him since the early Mercury program, and he kept shrugging it off and coming back for more. He was notoriously short.
All the astronauts hated getting in the Gemini spacecraft because the couches were sized for him, and he was the shortest astronaut in the corps.
They called it the Gusmobile. He was also (understandably) temperamental during the run-up to the Apollo flights, as nothing worked and, as he once famously noted on mission audio, “Jesus Christ, how are we supposed to get to the moon if we can’t even talk between two buildings?”
Edward White – Ed White had tried out for the Olympics before becoming an astronaut, so he was very athletic and strong.
He could not overcome the enormous pressure that sealed the spacecraft’s hatch. Gruesomely enough, some evidence indicates that the fire flash melted all of the velcro in the forward section of the spacecraft, and it rained down, coating the victims.
Ed White was supposedly frozen in a position, which indicated that he attempted to open the door but could not.
Roger Chaffee – Roger was the rookie on the crew, but by all accounts, he was just a stellar guy, sharp as a tack, and very enthusiastic.
How many people have gone into space without returning back to Earth?
Space Shuttle Challenger: Due to scheduling issues and what has been called “go-fever,” STS-51-L launched in sub-optimal (sub-marginal, as it turns out) temperatures on 28 January 1986. I was two.
The cold weather weakened the O-rings that sealed each section of the tall, white Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) segments and prevented the exhaust gases from shooting out of any direction but down.
The seals failed over approximately 26 degrees of arc on the starboard side SRB in the lowest of four segment joints. Exhaust flames escaped the breach, pushing the SRB into the large rust-coloured External Tank (ET).
The starboard aft strut that connected the SRB to the ET was pushed into the hydrogen tank, which shot up through the intertank and into the oxygen tank. This destroyed the ET structure entirely.
It was a deflagration, not a detonation. The orbiter survived this event, but because of its orientation to the free flow, aerodynamic forces quickly disintegrated the orbiter.
The crew compartment survived the breakup, and when recovered, it was discovered that several switches had been moved from their launch-normal positions, indicating that the crew was conscious for some time after the breakup and tried to recover, having no way of knowing that they were flying a very large metal shoehorn.
The crew compartment impacted the ocean surface at terminal velocity, which was far too fast to survive. Twenty-nine years later, it is still unknown whether the astronauts were conscious at the time of impact, although it is judged unlikely.
Michael Smith – Pilot: A captain in the US Navy and a test pilot, Michael Smith was an A-6 pilot during Vietnam. He was calm, cool, collected, exactly what you want in a pilot.
Dick Scobee – Commander: A native Washingtonian and a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force, he had a wife and two kids (one of whom is now a Major General).
He was one of the few people to fly the X-24B “Flying Bathtub” lifting body, making him an ideal candidate for spaceflight since most spacecraft are controlled in-atmosphere by blunt body aerodynamics (Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo) or more or less traditional gliding flight (Shuttle).
Ronald McNair – Mission Specialist: An African-American physicist and already-seasoned astronaut when Challenger appeared.
Look at those chops, man…
How many people have gone into space without returning back to Earth?
He was well respected for his work in laser physics (remember, this was the 80s) and had his Ph.D. in Physics from MIT. He received at least three honorary doctorates and a LOT of fellowships.
We lost a truly great mind… Fun fact: he was the second African-American to fly in space and the first follower of the Baha’i faith to do so.
Ellison Onizuka – Mission Specialist: Mr. Onizuka was the first Asian American and the first person of Japanese descent to reach space.
He was a veteran test pilot with the Air Force and was in charge of course instruction and fleet management of the Air Force’s airship fleet (back when that was a thing). In all likelihood, either he or Resnik activated Smith’s emergency air supply. He was posthumously promoted to Colonel.
Judith Resnik – Mission Specialist: Resnik was only the second female American in space, behind Sally Ride (who, by anecdotal evidence, had a chip on her shoulder) and the first Jewish-American person in space.
She was an engineer and a close friend of fellow astronaut Mike Mullane. His autobiography, Riding Rockets, paints her in a much clearer light than I could. It’s an excellent book, and I suggest picking it up (it’s also mostly very funny).
Greg Jarvis – Payload Specialist: Astronaut Jarvis was from the D (that’s Detroit, for those of you who don’t speak hood or have never seen 8 Mile), and unlike Eminem, he got out of Detroit and made a good living for himself working with satellites and missiles and was a well-rounded engineer.
He did a stint in the Air Force and resigned his commission honourably (they don’t call it discharge when officers get out) at the rank of Captain (which is an appreciably lower rank than a Navy captain. Because the Navy loves confusing people).
Christa McAuliffe – Payload Specialist: The “Teacher in Space” was selected from a pool of over 11,000 candidates to fly on the Challenger mission. She was going to teach two lessons from space and conduct some experiments.
Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107): During the launch, the ET shed foam insulation moderated the temperature of the cryogenic liquid fuels inside. This was considered to be a normal, natural phenomenon and wasn’t expected to be a cause for any alarm at all.
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How many people have gone into space without returning back to Earth?
During one launch, a suitcase-sized chunk of foam damaged a leading edge heat tile about halfway down the port-side wing of the orbiter. This went unnoticed during the entire flight and became a problem during the re-entry sequence.
The leading edge of each wing and the nose of the spacecraft experience the hottest temperatures, peaking around 3000 degrees. Keep in mind that the orbiter was made from aircraft grade 6061 aluminium.
Which melts at between 1080 and 1205 degrees. The tile failed; it sheared off the wing at the point of failure. The spacecraft then crashed due to the sudden differentials in force and disintegrated.
One particularly gruesome report implied that the bodies of more than one of the astronauts were found stuck in the top of a tree in someone’s yard. I’m not sure I believe that, though.
Rick Husband – Commander: Air Force Colonel, F-4 Phantom II pilot instructor, F-15 test pilot, engineer, and on his second spaceflight.
William McCool – Pilot: Commander, US Navy; Eagle Scout, engineer, EA-6B pilot with over 400 carrier landings, and on his first spaceflight. All of the Navy astronauts on this flight were on their first spaceflight.
David Brown – Mission Specialist: Captain, US Navy; highly decorated doctor, served as both a pilot and a flight surgeon at the same command, logged over 2700 flight hours total.
Kalpana Chawla – Mission Specialist: First Indian-American in space, first Indian woman in space. She was on the flight as the expert in using the Remote Manipulator System (RMS or Canadarm).
She was born in India (not just of Indian descent), studied aeronautical engineering in India, emigrated to the US, got two advanced degrees, and got accepted to the astronaut program; Columbia was her second flight in space.
How many people have gone into space without returning back to Earth?
Michael Anderson – Mission Specialist: Another African-American physicist in a time when that wasn’t particularly common, Air Force EC-135 pilot, piloted the Airborne Command Post aircraft “Looking Glass” (nuclear war contingency); second spaceflight.
Laurel Clark – Mission Specialist: Captain, US Navy; medical doctor, her bachelor’s degree was actually in zoology, FCC licensed Technician class radio operator, served as the doc for a couple of marine air wings as well as serving as a doctor in the Dive Medicine unit of the navy’s Experimental Diving Unit, first spaceflight.
Ilan Ramon – Payload Specialist: Israeli Space Agency astronaut, Israeli fighter pilot, the first astronaut to request kosher food (although he was considered to be a secular Jew, he did make all the Jewish observances in orbit, as he felt he represented Jews and Israelis everywhere).
Thirty-seven pages of his journal miraculously survived the accident and were returned to his wife, but they were not in particularly great condition. His wife, Rona, shared two pages with the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the first flight in space.
How did the astronauts get back and not burned up?
Great question. Astronauts are orbiting above us at an extremely high speed: approximately 17,500 mph. When anything travelling at that speed hits the atmosphere, it will slow down, but a huge amount of heat will be generated, potentially burning everyone and everything on board to a crisp.
Heat shields protect spacecraft re-entering the Earth. These lightweight materials heat up to extremely high temperatures, radiating that heat away, thus protecting everyone on board.
Special ceramic tiles were used on the Space Shuttle. Reinforced Carbon Carbon (RCC) is used for the areas of a spacecraft that are most liable to heat.
In 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia was destroyed after a damaged heat shield failed to protect the crew. Everyone onboard perished.
How did the astronauts get back and not burned up?
Great question. Astronauts are orbiting above us at an extremely high speed: approximately 17,500 mph. When anything travelling at that speed hits the atmosphere, it will slow down, but a huge amount of heat will be generated, potentially burning everyone and everything on board to a crisp.
Heat shields protect spacecraft re-entering the Earth. These lightweight materials heat up to extremely high temperatures, radiating that heat away, thus protecting everyone on board.
Special ceramic tiles were used on the Space Shuttle. Reinforced Carbon Carbon (RCC) is used for the areas of a spacecraft that are most liable to heat.
In 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia was destroyed after a damaged heat shield failed to protect the crew. Everyone onboard perished.
How many people have gone into space without returning back to Earth?
Have you gone to space?
Yes, I believe I have. Twice actually. The first time was 152 days as a crew member of the International Space Station (ISS). June 8, 2007, through November 7, 2007, to be exact. The second trip was for 15 days as a member of the STS-131 crew.
We visited (and resupplied) the ISS. That trip took place from April 5–20, 2010. During these two privileges, I had the opportunity to perform six spacewalks. Three on each mission. Quite cool, I think. I am a pretty lucky guy. Your question is pretty broad.
You may confirm this data via Astronaut, speaker and author Clayton Anderson or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
In any event, there’s my answer. Keep lookin’ up! If you’d looked up in 2007 or 2010, you may have seen me waving at you from the Shuttles Atlantis or Discovery or the ISS. Alas, maybe next time.
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How many countries send astronauts to space?
Well, up until now (March 2019), only three countries have space agencies that have developed rockets and spacecraft capable of sending Astronauts to space:
Russia, USA (although the USA, as of now, i.e. August 2018, doesn’t have any operational human-rated spacecraft and has to rely on Russia entirely) and China (although the Chinese design is very much similar to the Russian design because Russia helped China develop its human space program by selling many of its advanced aviation and space technology to China).
Russia has got the Soyuz spacecraft. After retiring the expensive and dangerous space shuttle in 2011, the USA has no human-rated spacecraft. It has to rely entirely on Russia’s Soyuz (the longest-serving human-crewed spacecraft).
China has the Shenzhou spacecraft (which is eerily similar to the Russian Soyuz, as Russia sold its advanced aviation parts to China in 1994–1995 because China was able to send its first astronauts to space in 2003).
All these human spaceflight programs and the agencies associated with them are government-funded.
USA is developing the new rocket SLS (Space launch system) and the Orion Spacecraft, which together will not only be able to launch humans into space but will also take them farther in space than any human has ever been before.
How many people have gone into space without returning back to Earth?
According to NASA, the first uncrewed launch of SLS with the Orion on top of it may take place in 2020, and the first crewed launch may take place in 2023. But the SLS is massively over budget and behind schedule, and it needs to be clarified when it will lift off the ground.
Russia is about to retire its ageing flagship Soyuz, which has done its job extremely well by being the safest. Thus, the most flown human-crewed spacecraft ever (and also economical) will replace it with its next-generation spacecraft: The Federation, which can take humans to the Moon and beyond.
The rocket for moon missions will be a super heavy lift, Angara, which is currently in development and is scheduled for first flight tests in 2027.
The first uncrewed test flight of the federation is slated for 2022 (which may slip to 2024, according to the head of RKK Energia, the company that is developing the federation), with crewed missions beginning shortly after that (after which the good old Soyuz will be retired). According to Russian officials, lunar missions will probably start by the end of 2020.
India is developing its human spaceflight program and will probably launch its first astronauts in space in the year 2022 (Indian human spaceflight program has repeatedly been postponed, but now ISRO, i.e. India’s space agency, has received a green signal from the government for a human program since the new government wants an Indian in space on Indian hardware by 2022, i.e. the year when India will have completed 75 years of independence.
ISRO has already successfully developed and tested the rocket that will be used for the human-crewed missions: the GSLV mk-3. ISRO is also developing the unified launch vehicle, a modular rocket system which will replace all current Indian rockets in the 2020s.
ISRO has also developed and tested several critical technologies needed for human space missions like the reentry module, a critical piece of hardware to bring astronauts back home from space, and the launch escape system, which is used to carry astronauts to safety if something goes wrong with the rocket during launch, the spacesuits etc.
How many people have gone into space without returning back to Earth?
The GSLV mk-3 can easily carry an Indian crew module in space with 2 – 4 astronauts. Earlier, ISRO was considering 2024 as its deadline for a human mission, so the government’s 2022 deadline surprised ISRO.
Still, ISRO has said that the deadline is ambitious but certainly achievable. This ambitious mission is called ‘Gaganyaan’ and has a budget of INR 9000 crore, i.e. approx USD 1.3 billion. It will put India in the group of elite space-flying nations).
Japan and ESA (European Space Agency) have previously cancelled and postponed human spaceflight development programs.
ESA is currently working with NASA on their Orion vehicle.
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Also, private companies like SpaceX and Boeing are developing human spaceflight programs.
SpaceX and Boeing will launch their first astronauts in space probably in the second half of 2019 (according to NASA), after which NASA will not have to rely on the Russian Soyuz, and US astronauts will start flying again from US soil. (NASA intends to use SpaceX and Boeing vehicles for low earth orbit and SLS-Orion for lunar and future Mars missions).
Above is a brief description of countries capable of launching astronauts into space and potential future countries and companies currently in the development stage.
How many people have gone into space without returning back to Earth?
However, even though other countries don’t have human-rated space vehicles, it doesn’t stop them from sending their astronauts into space, like some European countries, Japan and Canada, which have many astronauts. They took their seats aboard the Russian or American vehicles.
The astronaut training centres are in Russia, the USA, Europe, China and Japan. India is currently developing one. Also, some private companies are developing their training centres.
In the coming decade, there will be many more astronauts in space as the developing agencies perfect their space vehicles and the costs of launching astronauts fall. The US plans to return to the Moon, and Russia hopes to finally put its first citizen on the Moon in the coming decade.
How many astronauts have been lost in space? Who were they?
Actually, in space? Zero. We’ve lost 17 astronauts (Cosmonauts are a different story) in spaceflight activities in the atmosphere.
Apollo 1: During a plugs-out test of the Apollo hardware (which in its first version could be charitably described as a “flying turd”), a combination of factors including overpressure (+1 atmosphere), pure oxygen environment, an egress hatch that opened inward, and excess velcro and other flammable material plus a spark from somewhere under the astronauts’ couches caused a conflagration from which there was no hope of escape.
Three astronauts were killed (likely by inhalation of toxic fumes from the Velcro burning) very quickly.
Gus Grissom – Gus was a crusty spaceflight veteran when the Apollo program rolled around. Spaceflight had been trying to kill him since the early Mercury program, and he kept shrugging it off and coming back for more. He was notoriously short.
All the astronauts hated getting in the Gemini spacecraft because the couches were sized for him, and he was the shortest astronaut in the corps.
They called it the Gusmobile. He was also (understandably) temperamental during the run-up to the Apollo flights, as nothing worked and, as he once famously noted on mission audio, “Jesus Christ, how are we supposed to get to the moon if we can’t even talk between two buildings?”
Edward White – Ed White had tried out for the Olympics before becoming an astronaut, so he was very athletic and strong.
He could not overcome the enormous pressure that sealed the spacecraft’s hatch. Gruesomely enough, some evidence indicates that the fire flash melted all of the velcro in the forward section of the spacecraft, and it rained down, coating the victims.
How many people have gone into space without returning back to Earth?
Ed White was supposedly frozen in a position, which indicated that he attempted to open the door but could not.
Roger Chaffee – Roger was the rookie on the crew, but by all accounts, he was just a stellar guy, sharp as a tack, and very enthusiastic.
Space Shuttle Challenger: Due to scheduling issues and what has been called “go-fever,” STS-51-L launched in sub-optimal (sub-marginal, as it turns out) temperatures on 28 January 1986. I was two.
The cold weather weakened the O-rings that sealed each section of the tall, white Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) segments and prevented the exhaust gases from shooting out of any direction but down.
The seals failed over approximately 26 degrees of arc on the starboard side SRB in the lowest of four segment joints. Exhaust flames escaped the breach, pushing the SRB into the large rust-coloured External Tank (ET).
The starboard aft strut that connected the SRB to the ET was pushed into the hydrogen tank, which shot up through the intertank and into the oxygen tank. This destroyed the ET structure entirely.
It was a deflagration, not a detonation. The orbiter survived this event, but because of its orientation to the free flow, aerodynamic forces quickly disintegrated the orbiter.
The crew compartment survived the breakup, and when recovered, it was discovered that several switches had been moved from their launch-normal positions, indicating that the crew was conscious for some time after the breakup and tried to recover, having no way of knowing that they were flying a very large metal shoehorn.
The crew compartment impacted the ocean surface at terminal velocity, which was far too fast to survive. Twenty-nine years later, it is still unknown whether the astronauts were conscious at the time of impact, although it is judged unlikely.
Michael Smith – Pilot: A captain in the US Navy and a test pilot, Michael Smith was an A-6 pilot during Vietnam. He was calm, cool, collected, exactly what you want in a pilot.
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How many people have gone into space without returning back to Earth?
Dick Scobee – Commander: A native Washingtonian and a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force, he had a wife and two kids (one of whom is now a Major General).
He was one of the few people to fly the X-24B “Flying Bathtub” lifting body, making him an ideal candidate for spaceflight since most spacecraft are controlled in-atmosphere by blunt body aerodynamics (Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo) or more or less traditional gliding flight (Shuttle).
Ronald McNair – Mission Specialist: An African-American physicist and already-seasoned astronaut when Challenger appeared.
Look at those chops, man…
He was well respected for his work in laser physics (remember, this was the 80s) and had his Ph.D. in Physics from MIT. He received at least three honorary doctorates and a LOT of fellowships.
We lost a truly great mind… Fun fact: he was the second African-American to fly in space and the first follower of the Baha’i faith to do so.
Ellison Onizuka – Mission Specialist: Mr. Onizuka was the first Asian American and the first person of Japanese descent to reach space.
He was a veteran test pilot with the Air Force and was in charge of course instruction and fleet management of the Air Force’s airship fleet (back when that was a thing). In all likelihood, either he or Resnik activated Smith’s emergency air supply. He was posthumously promoted to Colonel.
Judith Resnik – Mission Specialist: Resnik was only the second female American in space, behind Sally Ride (who, by anecdotal evidence, had a chip on her shoulder) and the first Jewish-American person in space.
She was an engineer and a close friend of fellow astronaut Mike Mullane. His autobiography, Riding Rockets, paints her in a much clearer light than I could. It’s an excellent book, and I suggest picking it up (it’s also mostly very funny).
Greg Jarvis – Payload Specialist: Astronaut Jarvis was from the D (that’s Detroit, for those of you who don’t speak hood or have never seen 8 Mile), and unlike Eminem, he got out of Detroit and made a good living for himself working with satellites and missiles and was a well-rounded engineer.
He did a stint in the Air Force and resigned his commission honourably (they don’t call it discharge when officers get out) at the rank of Captain (which is an appreciably lower rank than a Navy captain. Because the Navy loves confusing people).
Christa McAuliffe – Payload Specialist: The “Teacher in Space” was selected from a pool of over 11,000 candidates to fly on the Challenger mission. She was going to teach two lessons from space and conduct some experiments.
Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107): During the launch, the ET shed foam insulation moderated the temperature of the cryogenic liquid fuels inside. This was considered to be a normal, natural phenomenon and wasn’t expected to be a cause for any alarm at all.
How many people have gone into space without returning back to Earth?
During one launch, a suitcase-sized chunk of foam damaged a leading edge heat tile about halfway down the port-side wing of the orbiter. This went unnoticed during the entire flight and became a problem during the re-entry sequence.
The leading edge of each wing and the nose of the spacecraft experience the hottest temperatures, peaking around 3000 degrees. Keep in mind that the orbiter was made from aircraft grade 6061 aluminium.
Which melts at between 1080 and 1205 degrees. The tile failed; it sheared off the wing at the point of failure. The spacecraft then crashed due to the sudden differentials in force and disintegrated.
One particularly gruesome report implied that the bodies of more than one of the astronauts were found stuck in the top of a tree in someone’s yard. I’m not sure I believe that, though.
Rick Husband – Commander: Air Force Colonel, F-4 Phantom II pilot instructor, F-15 test pilot, engineer, and on his second spaceflight.
William McCool – Pilot: Commander, US Navy; Eagle Scout, engineer, EA-6B pilot with over 400 carrier landings, and on his first spaceflight. All of the Navy astronauts on this flight were on their first spaceflight.
David Brown – Mission Specialist: Captain, US Navy; highly decorated doctor, served as both a pilot and a flight surgeon at the same command, logged over 2700 flight hours total.
Kalpana Chawla – Mission Specialist: First Indian-American in space, first Indian woman in space. She was on the flight as the expert in using the Remote Manipulator System (RMS or Canadarm).
She was born in India (not just of Indian descent), studied aeronautical engineering in India, emigrated to the US, got two advanced degrees, and got accepted to the astronaut program; Columbia was her second flight in space.
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How many people have gone into space without returning back to Earth?
Michael Anderson – Mission Specialist: Another African-American physicist in a time when that wasn’t particularly common, Air Force EC-135 pilot, piloted the Airborne Command Post aircraft “Looking Glass” (nuclear war contingency); second spaceflight.
Laurel Clark – Mission Specialist: Captain, US Navy; medical doctor, her bachelor’s degree was actually in zoology, FCC licensed Technician class radio operator, served as the doc for a couple of marine air wings as well as serving as a doctor in the Dive Medicine unit of the navy’s Experimental Diving Unit, first spaceflight.
Ilan Ramon – Payload Specialist: Israeli Space Agency astronaut, Israeli fighter pilot, the first astronaut to request kosher food (although he was considered to be a secular Jew, he did make all the Jewish observances in orbit, as he felt he represented Jews and Israelis everywhere).
Thirty-seven pages of his journal miraculously survived the accident and were returned to his wife, but they were not in particularly great condition. His wife, Rona, shared two pages with the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the first flight in space.
How many people have gone into space without returning back to Earth?