What is the Total Number of Astronauts Lost in Space Forever?

Humanity has been exploring space since mid 20th century, so it’s only obvious that there are quite a few astronauts lost in space forever. Their stories are tragic, as we no longer have good people who fought to gain more information about what’s above and beyond our planet. Read on to discover more about astronauts lost in space forever. You will find out, who they were and learn about their accomplishments and how their lives ended.

How many astronauts are in space right now?

There are 13 astronauts in orbit right now. This number is not that high, but their lives matter. They are from the European Space Agency (ESA), the Russian Agency Roscosmos, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Private companies like Blue Origin and SpaceX are planning to send astronauts into space, too. So, we will soon have more men out there. Humanity should explore other planets, and this would not be possible without astronauts who are ready to give their lives for this purpose. According to experts, the space industry will see rapid growth in the following ten years. In other words, we t more people will cross the Karman line, the official space border.

What happens if an astronaut gets lost in space?

Astronauts have the proper resources and equipment to survive in the nearly impossible vacuum of the open cosmos. If they didn’t have resources and were not equipped, they would die of hypothermia, asphyxiation, and dehydration. Additionally, when exposed to micrometeoroids and radiation, their health would be seriously threatened. When an astronaut gets lost in space, the crew makes every effort to bring them back. They keep communication lines open, and those at mission control give them instructions on what they should do. But unfortunately, there are also situations when astronauts can no longer come back to safety. In such cases, their bodies are returned to Earth by the crew.

How many astronauts lost in space forever?

There are 19 astronauts lost in space. Since November 2023, 676 astronauts have left on various missions. Out of these, 19 have died. This makes the statistical fatality rate 2.8%. NASA buries astronauts who died on duty at Florida’s Merrit Island Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and the Space Mirror Memorial. Astronauts train intensively, but this doesn’t mean that the harsh conditions of the open cosmos forgive them. The lost astronauts in space NASA list is not very long, but all people who died on missions are commemorated appropriately and with honours. At least they are not lost in space forever since their bodies are returned home. And since humanity plans to go to the Moon again and colonize Mars, the lives of many more astronauts may yet be threatened.

Short list of astronauts lost in space

According to Orbital Today, 60 years of space exploration put almost 600 astronauts in space. Since September 12, 2021, 244 astronauts have conducted 403 flights to the ISS. But since this article is about astronauts lost in space, let’s compile a short list of people we will never see again:

•     Max Valier was the modern space age’s first casualty and died because his rocket engine exploded
•     Dick Scobee was a Challenger crew member and died with other 6 astronauts during a devastating explosion
•     Judith Resnik, the second woman to travel in space, died when Challenger exploded after launch
•     Georgy Timofeyevich Dobrovolsky commanded the Soyuz 11 spacecraft and died of asphyxiation because a valve didn’t open
•     Virgil Grissom died on Apollo I, while testing the launch pad. While he didn’t die in space, his life is still attributed to space death because he did what he could to get out there.
•     Rick Husband died during reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere when his ship disintegrated. He went to space twice, once as an STS-96 pilot and once as an STS-107 commander.
•     Viktor Patsayev boarded Salyut and died before re-entering the atmosphere because the crew’s spacecraft depressurized.
•     Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov also died during a space accident disaster while trying to land his spacecraft, on April 27, 1967. He was the first man to die in space.

Another crew that died on a mission also came from the USSR. In 1971, three cosmonauts died in a depressurization accident, an incident that happened outside our planet’s atmosphere. These cosmonauts have spent about 3 weeks aboard the Soviet Union’s first-ever designed space station. But as soon as they tried to make a return to Earth, their spacecraft depressurized.

What will happen with astronauts further?

Since the number of commercial spaceflights continues to grow and since about 650 astronauts have flown into space so far, experts predict that future flights won’t be without any risks – something aspiring space tourists should understand.

Today, international teams in different agencies are still gathering data to find the best ways of calculating the risks astronauts are facing. After all, it’s very important to tell all space adventurers they have great chances of getting home. Astronaut teams, professional or amateur, need encouragement – and we hope they will get it!