http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/29/science/space/challenger-explosion-30-year-anniversary.html?_r=0
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http://mars.nasa.gov/msp98/orbiter/aerobrake.html
Finally, we must discuss how these launches might fail to reach their goal. There are many ways a spacecraft or object could either fail to reach an escape velocity or be caught out of orbit and brought back down to planet Earth.
- Failing to reach a speed of 11 km/s which would simply lead to the spacecraft plummeting back down to Earth.
- Hitting an object in orbit being thrown off course.
- When in orbit, if the object dips down towards the planet it will shift into a different level of orbit. Sometimes spacecraft or satellites do this purposefully in order to land. Landing using this method is known as "aerobraking" which is typically what space shuttles use to land in order to avoid both burning up in the atmosphere and from plummeting straight down towards the ground.