Skip to main content

Human Spaceflight Accidents: The US Space Program

  • Living reference work entry
  • Latest version View entry history
  • First Online:
Handbook of Bioastronautics
  • 52 Accesses

Abstract

In this chapter, the history of mishaps and accidents within the US space program is examined in order to provide context and understanding of how mishaps occur, ways in which they can be prevented or mitigated, and identify common factors therein. In particular, this entry identifies the role of human error, on the part of the crew and the support teams, and how human influence can alter the risk of mishap both positively and negatively.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Burrough B (1998) Dragonfly: NASA and the crisis aboard Mir. Harper Collins, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Chaikin AA (1994) Man on the moon: the voyages of the Apollo astronauts. Viking Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans B (2007) Space shuttle challenger: 10 journeys into the unknown. Springer Praxis Publishing, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovell J, Kluger J (1994) Lost moon: the perilous voyage of Apollo 13. Houghton Miffin, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Shayler DJ (2000) Disasters and accidents in manned spaceflight. Springer Praxis Publishing, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Stepaniak PC (2014) Loss of signal: aeromedical lessons learned from the STS-107 Columbia space shuttle mishap. NASA/SP-2014-616. NASA Special Publication, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Section Editor information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Blue, R. (2020). Human Spaceflight Accidents: The US Space Program. In: Young, L.R., Sutton, J.P. (eds) Handbook of Bioastronautics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_64-2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_64-2

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-10152-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-10152-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EngineeringReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Human Spaceflight Accidents: The US Space Program
    Published:
    08 December 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_64-2

  2. Original

    Human Spaceflight Accidents: The US Space Program
    Published:
    22 December 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_64-1