Fixing on the Fly

In space, there are few second chances. When something goes wrong, it’s up to astronauts and Mission Control to come up with a solution together…and quickly. Witness some of the most unexpected accidents in the history of spaceflight, from Neil Armstrong’s head-spinning flight aboard Gemini 8, to the 1997 air leak at the Russian space station Mir, to the race to fix an ISS solar panel tear in 2007. Then see how quick thinking and human ingenuity—on the ground and hundreds of miles above the Earth—help keep emergencies from becoming disasters.