Accidents+in+space+-+by

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So far in Space launches and missions, a approximatively 81 astronauts have been killed. The most common accident is launching pad accidents. Launches that have gone wrong over the past few years have claimed about 71 lives. Space agencies of NASA are hoping to decrease this 'total deaths' number.=====

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1971 June 30: crew exposed to vacuum of space : The crew of Soyuz 11, were killed after undocking from space station Salyut 1 after a three-week stay. A valve on their spacecraft had accidentally opened when the service module separated.=====

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1961 March 23: First space-related casualty - Valentin Bondarenko was in training in a special low-pressure chamber with a pure oxygen atmosphere. He threw an alcohol-soaked cloth onto an electric hotplate. In the pure oxygen environment, the fire quickly exploded arpund the entire chamber. Bondarenko suffered third-degree burns over most of his body and was barely alive when the chamber was opened, and died of his burns shortly after being hospitalized.=====

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1964 October 31: Bird strike - Theodore Freeman was killed when a goose smashed through the cockpit canopy  of his T-38 jet trainer. Flying shards of Plexiglas entered the engine intake and caused the engine to flame out. Freeman ejected from the stricken aircraft, but was too close to the ground for his parachute to open properly.=====

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1966 February 28: Crash landing - The original Gemini 9 crew, Elliot See and Charles Bassett, were killed while attempting to land their T-38 in bad weather. See misjudged his approach and crashed into the McDonnell aircraft factory.=====

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1967 8 December: Plane crash - Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr. was named the first African-American astronaut for the U.S. Air Force Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, but he never made it into space. He died when his F-104 Starfighter jet crashed at Edwards Air Force Base, California.=====

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1968 March 27: Plane crash - First human in space, Yuri Gagarin died when his MiG-15 jet trainer crashed while he prepared for the Soyuz 3 mission. An official report at the time blamed either birdstrike or that he turned too fast to avoid something in the air.=====