When we think of NASA, we picture brilliant and daring people.
People who are willing to do anything in search of truth.
Flawless individuals who are nearly incapable of making mistakes.
We may be right if we look at things from a technical point of view.
Since, without them, we may have not understood the entire potential of this infinite fabric
known as the Universe.
However, there are moments where these perfect men and women were kept at the edge of their
seats, moments where they made life-threatening errors — moments when they believed they
were done for.
Welcome to Factnomenal; in this video, we will learn about ten frightening instances
when NASA feared all hope was lost.
An Astronaut’s Nightmare: Fire in the Space Station
On February 24th, 1997, American and Russian astronauts were on a mission to MIR, a Russian
space station.
This expedition was part of the ‘shuttle-MIR-program’, often known as “phase one”, which was
designed to develop cooperation between the two nations' space agencies and to provide
Americans the opportunity to learn from Russia's experience with long-duration space travel.
However, things didn't turn out as amicably as expected.
No, no, the two countries didn’t start a cosmic battle against themselves.
Actually, the two nations had dinner together.
Yup!
Sadly though, immediately after dinner, a crew member, Aleksandr Lazutkin, ignited a
solid-fuel oxygen generator in Mir's Kvant-1 module, and the canister erupted, blasting
a three-foot flame with sparks and chunks of molten metal across the module and generating
a significant amount of thick smoke.
The blistering flame, which lasted several minutes, not only cut off access to one of
the two Soyuz escape vehicles, but also the vehicles the astronauts Korzun, Kaleri, and
Ewald would use in an emergency evacuation.
Despite this dilemma, the crew was rather composed.
As they immediately strapped on oxygen masks, then Korzun proceeded to spray foam from a
fire extinguisher to damp out the flame, as Linenger held him in place while the rest
of the team handed him two additional extinguishers.
The flame eventually went out, with Korzun's efforts preventing major damage - although
a couple of panels were burnt.
Over the course of the next few hours, life on Mir returned to normalcy, after the station's
life support system cleansed the smoke.
Fortunately, no one died, and no one needed to be hospitalised.
Space Shuttle Disintegration On February 1st, 2003, a tragic incident sent
shivers down NASA's spine.
Seven crew members were killed when the space shuttle they were on disintegrated upon reentry
into the atmosphere.
(Sigh)It's saddening, but what exactly went wrong?
Why did a space shuttle that had been in service for over 21 years suddenly disintegrate?
You wouldn't believe what was uncovered after a thorough examination.
Well, here’s what happened.
During the launch of the mission ‘STS-107’ — a piece of material known for its insulative
properties – the polyurethane foam, broke off from the space shuttle’s external tank,
a phenomenon known as ‘foam shedding’ — and struck the thermal protection system
tiles on the orbiters’ left wing, thereby causing damage to it.
The thermal protection system, as the name implies, is a barrier that protects the space
shuttle orbiter from the scorching 3000o F heat upon reentry into the atmosphere.
I’m certain that by now, you must have seen the big picture.
When Columbia reentered Earth's atmosphere, the damage allowed heated atmospheric gases
to breach the heat shield and destroy the internal wing structure, causing the orbiter
to become unstable and disintegrate.
For NASA, the situation was so bad that space operations were halted for up to two years.
15 Seconds Till Death Despite the fact that scientific and technological
skills were considerably less sophisticated 50 years ago, mankind accomplished extraordinary
things using nothing more than bravery and tenacity.
The Apollo 11 mission of July 1969 was one of those moments.
Numerous signals travelled back and forth between Apollo and ground control as it headed
toward the moon.
One message misinterpreted could have disastrous consequences.
From the newest team member to the flight director himself, everyone was under a great
deal of stress.
The men got ready for the mission's most perilous and uncertain phase, the descent to the moon,
as the spacecraft approached lunar orbit.
But, as soon as the spacecraft emerged from the shadow of the moon, mission control received
tracking information, indicating it was not following the right course.
Confusion set in.
"Flight, I'm almost halfway to my abort limit here - we seem to be out on our radial velocity,"
said flight controller Steve Bales.
All contact with the lunar module was lost as soon as he said, "halfway to my abort limit."
The crew and mission control were unable to communicate.
Panic set in.
The control room and the spaceship kept going back and forth, attempting to communicate.
After a while, the spacecraft steered off course.
Armstrong needed to find a safe place to land because he knew the fuel supply was running
low.
He looked out the window and saw the direction the computer was pointing them, a massive
crater filled with stones the size of small cars.
As the gasoline ran out, the astronauts were put in an awkward situation.
The simplest alternative was to reduce the rate of descent and just fly over any potential
impediments, but that would take way too much time and would consume more fuel, reducing
the available fuel required for takeoff.
After a while, mission control in Houston informed them that they had only 30 seconds
more.
Previously, NASA had concluded that if unforeseen events ever caused the timer to come down
to 30 seconds while trying to land, the mission should be aborted.
But Armstrong could see the moon's surface through his small window and knew that if
he just kept going a little longer, he would safely land the lunar module.
Back at the control centre, it was quiet, you could even hear a pin drop.
But alas!
Hope
Armstrong finally confirmed that they had landed.
There was a collective sigh of relief at the control centre.
That was a close one.
Apollo 11 had just landed, with only 15 seconds to spare.
JWST Damaged by a Space Rock On December 25, 2021, One of NASA's finest
accomplishments, the James Webb Space Telescope, was sent into orbit.
While this magnificent object was in space, it came into contact with what seemed to be
a meteorite that dented and stuck to one of its telescope's mirrors.
This happened between May 22nd and 24th.
NASA’s scientists carried out some investigations to see how potent the damage could have been,
and they found that there was no serious damage.
Experts say that it is functioning pretty effectively, and there is nothing to be worried
about.
If that weren't enough good news, Webb's scientists have also determined that it has enough fuel
aboard to power its mission for the next 20 years.
Saturn V..Struck by Lightning While all systems were ready for the second
lunar mission, launch controllers were uneasy about the weather.
Storm clouds had formed in the area even before the astronauts were sealed inside the capsule,
at which point the crew reported raindrops on the Yankee Clipper's windows.
However, after careful analysis of the weather, the controllers determined that the conditions
were okay, and the countdown began.
How wrong they were, and nature didn't waste any time in making them understand.
At exactly 11:22 am the Saturn V rocket carrying the three astronauts to the Moon lifted off.
Everything appeared normal until 36 seconds later when Pete Conrad noticed a bright flash
of light, and the capsule's master alarm began shrieking in panic.
The command module's instrument panel flashed with several warnings, nearly all of which
were connected to the craft's electrical system.
What no one recognized at the time was that the spacecraft had been struck by lightning.
The rocket behaved like a lightning rod as it rushed through the low-altitude rain clouds.
Not a moment longer, a second lightning strike damaged the rocket 52 seconds into the voyage,
at a height of roughly 14,500 feet, making the already dire situation even worse.
The crew had to release their capsule from the rest of the Saturn V and make an emergency
landing off the coast of Florida, using the launch escape rockets.
Apollo 12 would have ended prematurely if ground controllers had not used self-destruct
explosives to destroy the powerful Saturn V once the crew was free of the rocket.
Apollo Soyuz: A Mission With Akhlys – *(Akhlys is the goddess of poison in greek), this is
a comment, do not voice* In July 1975, a space mission nicknamed Apollo
Soyuz was aimed at easing the hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union, during
the cold war.
Millions of people around the world tuned in to watch the United States spacecraft Apollo
tether with the Soviet Union's Soyuz capsule.
The Soyuz and Apollo flights launched on the 15th of July 1975 and docked on the 17th of
the same month.
Three hours later, through the open hatch of the Soyuz, the two mission commanders,
Stafford and Leonov, exchanged the first international handshake in space.
It was an incredible sight.
While the two ships docked, the three Americans and two Soviets exchanged flags and gifts,
listened to each other's music, signed certificates, visited each other's ships, ate together,
joked around, and conversed in each other's languages.
But, little did they realise that they’d be fighting for their lives very soon.
Moments later, the unlit RCS liquid propellant vented from the spacecraft and reentered a
cabin air inlet, exposing the crew to hazardous hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide fumes during
reentry into the atmosphere.
The RCS was accidentally left on during the descent, allowing poisonous gases to be drawn
inside the spaceship, as it drew in outside air.
Stafford quickly obtained emergency oxygen masks, strapped one on Brand, and handed one
to Slayton while Brand temporarily lost consciousness.
Luckily, there was no fatality, but the three astronauts were hospitalised in Honolulu,
Hawaii, for two weeks.
The Apollo 13 Disaster A tank filled with liquid oxygen had just
ruptured in Apollo 13.
Everyone at the Houston control centre was puzzled as to why that happened.
There was a chance that something had been installed incorrectly, but no one was willing
to admit anything at the time, because everyone was too fixated on solving the problem at
hand.
There were multiple strange indications in the minutes following the disaster, indicating
that tank 2 was empty and tank 1's pressure was progressively falling — the spacecraft's
computer had completely reset and the high-gain antenna was not operating as well.
The mission was eventually aborted, and fortunately, none of the astronauts were hurt.
Once they safely returned to Earth, engineers began investigating the causes of the accident
in order to prevent it from happening again.
Within weeks, review teams had built a clear picture of the events that led to this near-death
disaster.
The chain of circumstances that led to Apollo 13's life-or-death drama began with a modest
design tweak to the Apollo spacecraft five years earlier.
The systems on the command and service modules were designed to function at 28 volts during
flight.
However, it became evident in 1965 that 65 volts would be employed during preflight tests
at the Kennedy Space Centre.
North American engineers directed that the craft's electrical components be altered to
accept both amounts of electricity that year.
However, one critical participant was not informed of the change.
Two tanks of liquid oxygen were housed within the service module.
The oxygen from these tanks was utilised not only to breathe for the astronauts but also
to power three fuel cells that provided electrical power to the command ship's numerous systems.
Each oxygen tank contained a thermostat and a heater that was used to adjust the temperature
inside the tank.
The producer of this thermostat was unaware of the requirement to tweak the thermostat
to receive 65 volts of electricity.
Oh boy, that can’t be good!
But then again, that might not have been a problem.
You see, the oxygen tanks used on all earlier Apollo missions had actually functioned without
problem.
However, oxygen tank number two of Apollo 13, had somewhat of a blemished past.
Tank number 2, which was eventually used on Apollo 13, was accidentally dropped by technicians
that were handling it, by around two inches.
They examined the tank and came to the conclusion that there was no obvious damage from the
incident.
Eventually, the tank that should have been discarded was approved for flight and fitted
in Apollo 13.
The small tube that was used to fill and empty it of its extremely cold contents was harmed
as a result of the drop that occurred earlier.
Workers solved this issue by turning on heaters within the tank, which warmed up the leftover
liquid oxygen and converted it into gas, which could then be released outside.
The tank's thermostat was designed to keep the temperature from rising above 80 degrees
Fahrenheit.
However, as the temperature within the tank rose, the thermostat was turned on, and the
1965 oversight became apparent.
The 28-volt thermostat was welded shut by the ensuing 65-volt power surge.
Temperatures within the tank reached 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit during the attempt to empty
it because technicians were unaware of the problem.
Some of the electrical insulation inside the tank was destroyed by the extreme heat.
Nobody knew it, but the service module of Apollo 13 contained the ingredients for a
tiny bomb when it launched.
Ground controllers instructed Jack Swigert to switch on the fans in the service module's
two liquid-oxygen tanks that evening on April 13 in order to mix the contents and provide
more precise amount readings.
This was when the "bomb" detonated.
The broken wiring resulted in a spark that caused a fire within the oxygen tank, when
the fan in tank number 2 was activated.
Due to oxygen feeding the fire, the pressure inside the tank quickly increased to the point
where it burst open, devastating most of the other plumbing in the tightly packed service
module and rendering the spacecraft unusable.
That was quite the turn of events.
In the aftermath of Apollo 13, engineers modified the oxygen tanks to avoid similar catastrophes.
Unforeseen Circumstances NASA intended to utilise the orbiter to evaluate
the performance of Spacelab systems and to monitor the vehicle's environment in space.
STS-51F, often known as "Spacelab 2," was the codename for this mission, and it was
the 19th flight of NASA’s space shuttle program.
She was set to make her first launch attempt on the 12th of July, 1985.
But, something happened.
The liftoff was aborted at exactly T minus 3 seconds after the main engine ignition.
The number two SSME coolant valve had malfunctioned, which caused all the three main engines to
shut down.
NASA fixed the issue and decided to give this mission a go, one more time.
Well, you could say the second launch, which happened 17days after the first failed attempt,
was a success.
But immediately after launch, one of the two temperature sensors in the middle engine failed.
The second sensor failed two minutes and twelve seconds later after launch, causing the centre
engine to completely shut down.
One of the same temperature sensors in the right engine failed around 8 minutes into
the flight, and the remaining right-engine temperature sensor reported readings approaching
the redline for engine shutdown.
Jenny Howard, a Booster Systems Engineer, intervened immediately to instruct the crew
to disable any additional automated SSME shutdowns based on sensor readings, preventing the potential
shutdown of a second engine and an abort mode that may have resulted in the loss of the
crew and the vehicle.
The malfunctioning SSME resulted in an Abort to Orbit (ATO) trajectory, which resulted
in the shuttle reaching a lower-than-planned orbital height.
A Lucky Legend The 20th of February, 1962, was a phenomenal
day for America.
In just four hours and 52 minutes, John Glenn established the United States as a major competitor
in the space race, and he became an instant hero when he orbited the Earth three times
aboard the Friendship 7, becoming the first American to do so.
But, while he was in space, he had a little problem, one that kept him on the edge of
his seat as well.
After Glenn began his second orbit, Mission Control received a signal that the heat shield,
which was supposed to keep the capsule from burning up upon reentry, had come loose.
Despite the possibility that it could be an erroneous transmission, Mission Control took
no chances.
Normally, once the rockets were fired to decelerate the capsule for reentry, the retro packet
package would be discarded.
Glenn, on the other hand, was told to keep the retropack in order to keep the heat shield
in place.
Glenn watched as big fragments blasted past the window while battling to keep control
of the spacecraft, wondering if it was the retropack or heat shield breaking up.
He was really tense.
Fortunately, the heat shield remained intact, or else Glenn and his capsule would have been
destroyed.
Feeling thirsty??
On the 9th of July, 2013, Luca Parmitano and Chris Cassidy successfully completed their
spacewalk.
Upon returning to the US airlock, Parmitano discovered that he had water inside his helmet.
How strange??
He notified the ISS team and they simply concluded that the water originated from a leak in the
drink bag attached to Parmitano’s chest, which he likely squeezed as he leaned forward
inside the airlock.
One week later, it happened again.
This time, Parmitano simply ignored it since he was unable to locate it and continued his
spacewalk.
But as he continued, the water rose until he couldn’t see properly anymore.
The spacewalk was immediately terminated.
The ISS decided to take it seriously this time and decided to invite the MIB to join
the investigation.
I know what you are thinking, and no, it’s not the Men in Black.
We are referring to the Mishap Investigation Board.
They do a wonderful job investigating things like this because, after their thorough examination,
they discovered that the water leak was due to contamination and blockage inside Parmitano’s
space suit.
That was a strange moment, but thankfully, both astronauts are safe and of course healthy.
So, do you know any other lucky moments in space travel that we didn't cover?
Tell us in the comment section below.
And as always, thanks for watching Factnomenal, we’ll see you next time.