Have any astronauts or cosmonauts died in space?

Yes, some astronauts and cosmonauts have died while they were in space, it's like being on a very high ride that sometimes goes wrong.

Imagine you're playing on a swing set, but instead of just going back and forth, your swing takes off into the sky! That’s kind of what astronauts do, they go up really far, way above Earth. But sometimes things don’t go perfectly. A rocket might break or a spaceship could have trouble, like when your toy car gets stuck in mud.

In 1986, a space shuttle called Challenger had a big problem during its flight. It was like the swing rope snapped while you were going up, suddenly, the shuttle broke apart, and seven people who were on board couldn’t come back down.

Another time, in 2017, a spaceship called Soyuz had an accident when it was trying to land. It was like a slide that went too fast, and one person didn’t make it back safely.

So far, about 18 astronauts or cosmonauts have died while they were in space, but the rest of them came back safe, just like you come back from your swing set every time!