It was hiding from problems that led to the 1986 Challenger explosion, in which six astronauts and a high school teacher died.

The flight is the nation's 38th shuttle mission and the 13th since the 1986 Challenger disaster, in which seven astronauts died.

The astronauts died of carbon monoxide poisoning before ground crews could reach them.

If the plants died, the astronauts would die, too.

There was a very big chance that the astronauts would die before they could return to Earth.

The repairs took longer than expected, and Soviet news agencies said the two astronauts could have died because their oxygen ran so low.

The war in Iraq helps explain the difference, the aide added, but beyond that, "space is more humdrum now," even when astronauts die.

All seven astronauts on board died in the disaster.

An astronaut had died in line of duty, and another astronaut would carry the fatal news.

An astronaut is stranded on Pluto, but doesn't die.