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Author
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Topic: Space shuttle program personnel casualities
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Bill Nelson
Member Posts: 151
From: Lakewood, Colorado U.S.A.
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted 12-03-2008 09:23 PM
   
I am doing some research trying to find out how many people have been killed (besides astronauts) while working on the space shuttle program. I know of 2 workers that died from a fuel leak shortly before STS-1, and the 2 people who died in a helicopter crash while they were searching for Columbia debris. Does anyone know of anyone else that died while working on something related to the shuttle program? |
music_space
Member Posts: 1179
From: Canada
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 12-04-2008 08:54 AM
I'd be very interested in how this research turns out. I've always been ill at ease with the fact that, in the space program, work-related deaths of astronauts are the only one honoured and publicly mentionned. Only once, in all of my readings, did I read about an non-astronaut, unnamed worker who killed himself (and his family, IIRC) after the Fire (in "Apollo, The Race to the Moon", I believe)Nothing against the individual or the Astronauts Memorial Foundation, of course, but that the death of "Sonny" Carter, jr. aboard a commercial airliner be honoured ahead of some in the program who died performing dangerous stuff doesn't feel right. Is there a memorial - or web-memorial - for non-astronaut who perished performing their program-related duties? |
KSCartist
Member Posts: 2896
From: Titusville, FL USA
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 12-04-2008 09:20 AM
While they are not remembered as prominently as the Space Mirror there is a statue on display at KSC honoring the men killed prior to STS-1 among others. When I worked out there in 1992 seeing it was part of our orientation. If I recall it was on display in the IMAX Theater. Maybe someone else knows where it is now. |
BobbyA
Member Posts: 147
From: Northern Virginia
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 12-04-2008 11:37 AM
In the Debus Center at KSC there is a plaque honoring all of the KSC workers that have died in the line of duty. I believe it is near the men's room. |
Jay Chladek
Member Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007
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posted 12-04-2008 09:37 PM
Guenter Wendt's book "The Unbroken Chain" talks about the workers killed prior to STS-1 (actually it wasn't a fuel leak, they entered an area that was still filled with inerting nitrogen when it was declared safe and they dropped like flies due to lack of oxygen). He also talks about how he got a memorial to them and other workers in the space program who died erected. Supposedly it sits near the gate to Canaveral Air Force station. |
LCDR Scott Schneeweis
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posted 12-04-2008 09:58 PM
Im surprised we haven't seen an incident in the VAB from the SRBs. Ammonium perchlorate has a low threshold for ignition (it can be ignited simply through friction, impact or static electricity). |
cspg
Member Posts: 6210
From: Geneva, Switzerland
Registered: May 2006
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posted 12-04-2008 11:45 PM
Hasn't there been an accident at the Cape between 1981 and 2003 that injured (killed?) technicians? It's a story that rings a bell but I can't recall when it happened and whether it was shuttle-related or on another launch pad... |
art540
Member Posts: 432
From: Orange, California USA
Registered: Sep 2006
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posted 12-05-2008 12:03 AM
In 1960 I believe a man was killed by the accidental firing of a small external rocket on a Titan I ICBM. Anyone have the date and details to share? |
heng44
Member Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 12-05-2008 02:46 AM
On March 9, 1988, a train carrying STS-26 booster segments from Morton Thiokol to KSC collided with a car in Biloxi, Mississippi. Two persons in the car were killed, but the booster sections were not damaged. (AW&ST, March 14, 1988) |
Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1306
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 12-05-2008 03:32 AM
Sometime ago I remembering about a worker that was killed just before or after Christa McAuiffe got on a centrifuge. |
FFrench
Member Posts: 3161
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 12-05-2008 11:06 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Lou Chinal:
Sometime ago I remembering about a worker that was killed just before or after Christa McAuiffe got on a centriuge.
I believe that was a centrifuge-type ride at Huntsville's Space Camp, and it was a teenage boy who died, not a worker. |
Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 12-05-2008 11:44 AM
On the Russian side some workers perished when the Buran hangar collapsed a few years ago... |
Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1306
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 12-05-2008 01:06 PM
Yes Francis your right. It was part of space camp at Huntsville. My mind isn't what it used to be (not that it was ever great to start with). |
FFrench
Member Posts: 3161
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 12-05-2008 01:14 PM
It was over two decades ago, so quite understandable......and, of course, no less of a tragic loss. |
LCDR Scott Schneeweis
New Member Posts:
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posted 12-05-2008 01:28 PM
As are those workers in the industry who have or will ultimately suffer mortality from occupational exposure to toxic chemicals/carcinogens... |
gliderpilotuk
Member Posts: 3398
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 12-06-2008 09:31 AM
Just go to Wikipedia.... |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3120
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 12-06-2008 10:32 AM
I believe asbestos insulation was used on the F1 first-stage engines of the Saturn V (and possibly elsewhere although I can't find any references). Given the size of the workforce, it seems inevitable that men who worked on the Saturn V rockets have died, and may yet die, of mesothelioma. Have any studies been carried out to determine how many? |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2915
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 12-07-2008 02:51 PM
One of my company's publications, "Cape Canaveral; 500 Years of History, 50 Years of Rocketry," in July 2000 was dedicated to the men and women who have willfully sacrificed life and limb to make Cape Canaveral the world's premier gateway to space. On July 9, 1958, the Florida Space Coast experienced its first operational fatality. On that day, Fred Adams fell from an Atlas service gantry at the Cape air force station and died as a result of injuries sustained. Fatalities on the Cape have been few and far between. Specific records on fatalities, as far as I still know, are not available for review, but it is estimated that less than 25 people have died as a result of operational activities at the nation's spaceport. This number does not include those who may have died in automobile accidents on government property, but I think anyone would agree that given the volatile nature of processing and launching rockets, missiles and spacecrafts, the number of operational fatalities has been remarkably low. |
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