Definition
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.
Overview
There has been a paradigm shift over the last century as humans have ventured past the atmosphere to attempt further, longer, and more challenging spaceflight missions. The glory of the early Mercury program, the fascination of Apollo – these early days that incited public interest and captured human imagination are gone. Today, spaceflight is considered achievable, commonplace, and not very noteworthy. Rarely do stories of spaceflight reach the front pages; in fact, rarely do such stories make the news at all. However, spaceflight...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Burrough B (1998) Dragonfly: NASA and the crisis aboard Mir. Harper Collins, London
Chaikin AA (1994) Man on the moon: the voyages of the apollo astronauts. Viking Press, New York
Evans B (2007) Space shuttle challenger: 10 journeys into the unknown. Springer Praxis Publishing, Berlin
Lovell J, Kluger J (1994) Lost moon: the perilous voyage of Apollo 13. Houghton Miffin, Boston
Shayler DJ (2000) Disasters and accidents in manned spaceflight. Springer Praxis Publishing, London
Stepaniak PC (2014) Loss of signal: aeromedical lessons learned from the STS-107 columbia space shuttle mishap. NASA Special Publication, Washington, DC. NASA/SP-2014-616
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Blue, R. (2018). Human Spaceflight Accidents: The US Space Program. In: Young, L., Sutton, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Bioastronautics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_64-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_64-1
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
Chapter history
-
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
-
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