Liberty Bell 7
Liberty Bell 7 was the second manned suborbital flight. Pilot Virgil "Gus" Grissom had a relatively uneventful liftoff and re-entry during the United States’ Mercury-Redstone 4 mission, but it was after splashdown that his troubles began.
Mercury-Atlas 9
Pilot Gordon Cooper was on the final Mercury spaceflight when a short circuit caused a system malfunction. Cooper had to enlist the help of a fellow famous astronaut during re-entry.
Voskhod 2
The mostly successful Russian space mission was to set a new milestone. Two cosmonauts manned the mission including the man who became the first person to spacewalk. The near-disaster occurred when a mechanical failure caused them to land more than 200 miles from their intended landing target.
Gemini 8
Three years before his most famous mission, Neil Armstrong managed to successfully return himself and fellow astronaut David Scott back to Earth after a potentially deadly system failure.
Soyuz 5
The Soviets’ Soyuz 7K-OK successfully docked with the Soyuz 4 in orbit ― the first mission of its kind ― but things didn’t go so well for cosmonaut Boris Volynov during his re-entry and landing. The service module failed to separate.
Apollo 11
The history-making lunar mission appeared to go smoothly to the millions watching around the world , but there was at least one close call for the crew.
Apollo 12
The three astronauts aboard the Apollo spacecraft arrived safely back on Earth after the United States’ second successful lunar landing , but their takeoff wasn’t so smooth.
Apollo 13
Most people know the story of the three-man crew that never landed on the moon as planned , but the details of the incident are still quite chilling today.
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
The first joint United States-Soviet space flight, which included a docking of the Apollo and Soyuz spacecrafts, successfully brought about the end of the "Space Race," but the mission wasn’t without its problems.
Soyuz 33
Bulgarian cosmonaut Georgi Ivanov and Soviet commander Nikolai Rukavishnikov were supposed to visit the crew of the Salyut 6 space station, but they never made it. The main engine began to fail as they approached the station for docking. Ground control began to fear that the craft and its crew might end up stranded in space.
Shuttle Atlantis
Five crewmembers were on a top-secret NASA mission when they experienced the same problem that would cause the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster 15 years later.
Mir space station
The now-defunct Soviet- and Russian-owned space station faced many challenges during its 15-year orbit, but one of its most serious incidents occurred during an attempted docking.
Spacewalks
Astronaut Luca Parmitano was conducting what was to be a routine extra-vehicular activity with fellow astronaut Chris Cassidy outside the International Space Station when something went terribly wrong.
