The Shuttle killed more people than any other space vehicle in history. The explosion of the Challenger killed seven people, six astronauts and one Teacher in Space participant, during the launch of its 10th mission in 1986. The explosion of the Columbia killed seven more during re-entry of its 28th mission in 2003. Let me spell it out for you: out of five ShuttlesâColumbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavorâtwo met a disastrous and fiery fate. Thatâs a 40% vehicular failure rate (updated) and a flight failure rate of 1.5%.