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The Space Shuttle Challenger was destroyed 73 seconds after lift-off on STS-51-L at an altitude of 15 kilometers (49,000 ft). The investigation found that cold weather conditions caused an O-ring seal to fail, allowing hot gases from the shuttle's solid rocket booster (SRB) to impinge on the external propellant tank and booster strut.
Unlike the US Space Shuttle, which was propelled by a combination of solid boosters and the orbiter's own liquid-propellant engines fuelled from a large tank, the Soviet/Russian Energia launch system used thrust from each booster's RD-170 liquid oxygen/kerosene engine (each with four nozzles), developed by Valentin Glushko, and another four RD ...
Buran could return 20 tons from orbit, [91] [92] vs the Space Shuttle's 15 tons. Buran included a drag chute [93]; the Space Shuttle originally did not, but was later retrofitted to include one. The lift-to-drag ratio of Buran is cited as 5.6, [94] compared to a subsonic L/D of 4.5 for the Space Shuttle. [95]
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian space program continued to operate from Baikonur under the auspices of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Russia wanted to sign a 99-year lease for Baikonur, but agreed to a US$115 million annual lease of the site for 20 years with an option for a 10-year extension. [18]
In September, Ukraine destroyed state-of-the-art Russian air defences in Crimea and damaged two ships. Moskva , the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, sank in the waters off Ukraine during ...
April 10: During descent to Earth of Soyuz MS-02 crewed spacecraft, a part of the parachute system hit the capsule during deployment, causing partial depressurization at the altitude of about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi), 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) higher than during normal operations. As the crew were wearing pressure suits, the loss of pressure didn't ...
The longest orbital flight of the Shuttle was STS-80 at 17 days 15 hours, while the shortest flight was STS-51-L at one minute 13 seconds when the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart during launch. The cold morning shrunk an O-Ring on the right Solid Rocket Booster causing the external fuel tank to explode.
1969: five sailors on a Japanese ship were injured when space debris from what was believed to be a Soviet spacecraft struck the deck of their boat. [4]1978: the Soviet reconnaissance satellite Kosmos 954 reentered the atmosphere over northwest Canada and scattered radioactive debris over northern Canada, some landing in the Great Slave Lake.