Throughout the history of space travel, many accidents have occurred. NASA's few fatal accidents have taken many lives.
Space disasters started when the Apollo caught on fire moments before takeoff and killed Virgil Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Edward White in 1967. Another accident occurred when Apollo 13's air tank burst shortly after liftoff and James Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swiggert had to return quickly or else they would suffocate. They made it back in time to stay alive in 1970. Seven men died when the Challenger blew up 73 seconds after liftoff in 1986. The most recent Space disaster happened on February 1, 2003, when the Columbia blew up in midair because of a separation of some materials on re-entry to earth and killed all seven men and women aboard.
The NASA space scientists are studying ways to improve the safety of space travel.