The Challenger And Columbia Space Shuttle Disasters

The Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters were perhaps two of the most prominent reminders of how crucial it is that everything works just right for a spacecraft to travel to space and successfully return back to Earth. There are countless factors that come into play when considering space flight. Thermal control, solar and lunar attraction to name a small number but I shall explore only a select few. So far, NASA has had six successful Mars landers: Viking I and II, Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity and Phoenix. However, all these missions were robotic missions with vehicles that are significantly lighter than a spacecraft carrying astronauts, supplies and fuel for a round-trip. Developing systems for a manned mission to