History Main / AccidentalAstronaut

* ''Literature/TheLastHero'': Subverted. Rincewind volunteers to be part of the crew of the first flying machine of the Discworld not because he wants to, but specifically to avoid suffering this trope. He knows that it's faster and safer than ending up in the starship by hiding in a box because he was fleeing from something even more dangerous. As he explains to Vetinari, [[CosmicPlaything that's how his life works]].

The first method involves a character entering a parked spacecraft and [[WhatDoesThisButtonDo messing with the controls]] out of curiosity or stupidity, causing the spacecraft to launch into space with them in it. This could be from the character thinking the spacecraft is merely a simulation, or even unaware that it's a spacecraft at all. Either way, once they're inside and press something that sets off the launch sequence, they have no recourse to correct their mistake due to their inexperience with piloting spacecraft.

* ''WesternAnimation/CuriousGeorge2006}': At the end of the film, George and Ted were accidentally launched into space.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Curious George|2006}}'': At the end of the film, George and Ted were accidentally launched into space.

* ''Film/{{Stowaway|2021}}'': The plot revolves around a technician who is stuck behind a service panel of the spacecraft and is accidentally launched into space.

* Subverted In ''Literature/TheLastHero''. Rincewind volunteers to be part of the crew of the first flying machine of the Discworld not because he wants to, but specifically to avoid suffering this trope. He knows that it's faster and safer than ending up in the starship by hidding in a box because he was fleeing from something even more dangerous. As he explains to Vetinari, [[CosmicPlaything that's how his life works]].

* In the ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' novel ''[[Literature/XWingSeries Starfighters of Adumar]]'', Wes Janson recounts the story of Tomer "Ejector" Darpen, a Y-Wing pilot who has to [[ComingInHot crash-land]] his battle-damaged fighter. After bouncing up and down the length of the landing site (which had been cleared as a makeshift runway) and skidding to a halt, Darpen has long enough to sigh in relief before his ejector seat malfunctions. Because they were based on a low-gravity moon at the time, he achieves escape velocity and has to be rescued by a shuttle.

* ''Series/{{The Astronauts|2020}}'': The five kids board the ''Odyssey 2'' simply to check the spacecraft out. However, unbeknownst to them, the ship's [[AIIsACrapshoot rogue AI]] seals the kids inside and launches them into space.
* ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'': Played with in the special "Blackadder Back and Forth". Blackadder claims to have built a time machine, betting his friends that he can travel through time and space and collect relics from the past. When he enters the machine and believes it to be a decoy, Blackadder activates the controls and then finds the machine actually works, sending them back to the age of the dinosaurs. Unfortunately, Baldrick forgot to label the dials with the numbers to set the date, and unable to return to the present time, they are doomed to fly through time for all time, with plenty of shots of the machine flying through space (surrounded by spacecraft when they travel too far into the future).

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', accidentally stowing away on the TARDIS, a spacecraft disguised as a police box, is one of the traditional ways that one becomes the Doctor's companion.

* ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'': The cephalopodic alien called "Sam Starfall" snuck onto the spacecraft of visiting human explorers and passed out due to the Earth-normal atmosphere containing insufficient oxygen. Fortunately his species is capable of a highly-risky form of suspended metabolism, and he managed to survive while his accidental hosts were in cryostasis for the journey back to Earth. The explorers were horrified when they realized they'd brought an alien back - among other unsettling features, Sam's chromophores required him to get a certification that he exists in only three dimensions, and humans seeing him outside his encounter suit usually take SAN damage.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales|1987}}'' (1987): In the episode "The Right Duck," Launchpad was supposed to board a simulator, but accidentally ends up in a rocket containing a space probe headed to Mars, and when Doofus tries to warn him, they're both sent to Mars.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales|2017}}'' (2017): Happens to [[spoiler:Donald Duck]] at the end of the episode "The Golden Spear!", after seeing a spaceship crash to earth. He assumes that [[spoiler:his long-lost sister, Della]] is inside the spaceship and runs to the site of the crash, only for him to get trapped inside the spaceship and taken to the moon.
* ''WesternAnimation/EngieBenjy'': Subverted in the episode "Jollop Alone". Jollop the dog accidentally ends up inside [[ADogNamedDog Spaceship the sentient spaceship]] and ends up flying upwards, but thankfully manages to land before reaching space.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In the episode "Space Cadet", Chris goes to space camp and as he has the whole Griffin family on a tour of the Space Shuttle, Stewie excitedly hits the BigRedButton, launching them into orbit.

** Its spin-off ''Josie and the Pussycats [[RecycledINSPACE in Outer Space]]'' begins with this trope. While posing for publicity stills in front of a space rocket, Alexandra decides that she doesn't want to be on the fringe, where she can easily be cropped out. Instead, she tries to move to the center, nudging the group behind her. Josie and company lose their balance, and tumble into the crew compartment, pulling Alexandra with them. A stumbling Josie pulls the launch lever by accident, and away they go.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePatrickStarShow'': In "To Dad and Back", Patrick goes inside the body of his dad, Cecil. Cecil ends up at an astronaut testing site, but after spinning in the centrifuge, needs to vomit. Trying to find the bathroom, he ends up running onto a space shuttle, which launches while he's using the toilet in it. After vomiting, Cecil accidentally flushes himself down, ejecting both his waste and himself. He crash lands next to his house on Earth.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheRaccoons'': Subverted in the episode "[[Recap/TheRaccoonsS5E9TheWrongStuff The Wrong Stuff!]]". When Bentley takes Broo to the site where Cyril Sneer plans to launch his own TV satellite into space, Broo accidentally gets himself trapped inside the satellite after Bentley leaves him alone. When Bert, Bentley, and Cedric find out about this, they try to get him out of there before launch, which they fortunately succeed at.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In the episode [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS1E8SandysRocketSqueakyBoots "Sandy's Rocket"]], [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick accidentally launch themselves into space by messing with the controls of the titular spaceship. The rocket crash-lands back in Bikini Bottom, which [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick [[NotWhereTheyThought mistake for the surface of the moon.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TazMania'': In the episode "Astro-Taz", Taz finds himself onboard a combat spaceship intended to handle an incoming meteorite shower. After accidentally launching it, he believes himself to be in a video game, to which the ground crew just says "Sure, let's go with it," and makes him destroy the meteoroids anyway.

* In the StarWars novel ''[[Literature/XWingSeries Starfighters of Adumar]]'', Wes Janson recounts the story of Tomer "Ejector" Darpen, a Y-Wing pilot who has to [[ComingInHot crash-land]] his battle-damaged fighter. After bouncing up and down the length of the landing site (which had been cleared as a makeshift runway) and skidding to a halt, Darpen has long enough to sigh in relief before his ejector seat malfunctions. Because they were based on a low-gravity moon at the time, he achieves escape velocity and has to be rescued by a shuttle.

* Subverted In ''Literature/TheLastHero''. Rincewind volunteers to be part of the crew of the first flying machine of The Discworld not because he wants to, but specifically to avoid suffering this trope. He knows that´s faster and safer than ending in the starship anyways but hidden in a box or because he was fleeing from something even more dangerous. As he explains to Vetinari, [[CosmicPlaything that´s whow his life works]].

* ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'': In ''Recap/TintinExplorersOnTheMoon'', shortly after Calculus's rocket has taken off, the protagonists realize that [[ThoseTwoGuys the Thompsons]], who were supposed to be on guard before the launch, are still inside because they mistook the time of the takeoff. The two end up being obliged to participate in the exploration of the Moon.

* ''Webcomic/Freefall'': The cephalopodic alien called "Sam Starfall" snuck onto the spacecraft of visiting human explorers and passed out due to the Earth-normal atmosphere containing insufficient oxygen. Fortunately his species is capable of a highly-risky form of suspended metabolism, and he managed to survive while his accidental hosts were in cryostasis for the journey back to Earth. The explorers were horrified when they realized they'd brought an alien back - among other unsettling features, Sam's chromophores required him to get a certification that he exists in only three dimensions, and humans seeing him outside his encounter suit usually take SAN damage.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* ''Series/CousinSkeeter'': ''New Kids on the Planet" has Skeeter, Bobby, Nina, and Skeeker's crush, Nicole, go to space camp. Attempting to impress Nicole, Skeeter sneaks everyone on a Space Shuttle, believing it to be just one of the camp's simulators. After messing around with the controls they find out it is in fact a real shuttle and are launched into space. Taken further when Skeeter hits the hyperdrive button (while trying to press a Do not touch! note to it), sending them to an alien world.

* ''WesternAnimation/((Curious George|2006}}'': At the end of the film, George and Ted were accidentally launched into space.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/CuriousGeorge2006'': At the end of the film, George and Ted were accidentally launched into space.

* ''Film/Stowaway2021'': The plot revolves around a technician who is stuck behind a service panel of the spacecraft and is accidentally launched into space.

* ''Series/TheAstronauts2020'': The five kids board the ''Odyssey 2'' simply to check the spacecraft out. However, unbeknownst to them, the ship's [[AIIsACrapshoot rogue AI]] seals the kids inside and launches them into space.

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'': In the episode "The Right Duck," Launchpad was supposed to board a simulator, but accidentally ends up in a rocket containing a space probe headed to Mars, and when Doofus tries to warn him, they're both sent to Mars.
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': Happens to [[spoiler:Donald Duck]] at the end of the episode "The Golden Spear!", after seeing a spaceship crash to earth. He assumes that [[spoiler:his long-lost sister, Della]] is inside the spaceship and runs to the site of the crash, only for him to get trapped inside the spaceship and taken to the moon.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpaceChimps2ZartogStrikesBack'': Comet wants to be taken seriously as a real space chimp and gets his wish when he accidentally activates the spaceship to launch.

* ''Series/CousinSkeeter'': ''New Kids on the Planet" has Skeeter, Bobby, Nina, and Skeeker's crush, Nicole, go to space camp. Attempting to impress Nicole, Skeeter sneaks everyone on a Space Shuttle, believing it to be just one of the camp's simulators. After messing around with the controls they find out it is in fact a real shuttle and are launched into space. Taken further when Skeeter hits the hyperdrive button (while trying put press a Do not touch! note to it), sending them to an alien world.

* ''Series/CousinSkeeter'': ''New Kids on the Planet" has Skeeter, Bobby, Nina, and Skeeker's crush, Nicole, go to space camp. Attempting to impress Nicole, Skeeter sneaks everyone on a Space Shuttle, believing it to be just one of the camp's simulators. After messing around with the controls they find out it is in fact a real shuttle and are launched into space. Taken further when Skeeter hits the hyperdrive button ([[WhatAnIdiot while trying put press a Do not touch! note to it]]), sending them to an alien world.

* ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales1987'': In the episode "The Right Duck," Launchpad was supposed to board a simulator, but accidentally ends up in a rocket containing a space probe headed to Mars, and when Doofus tries to warn him, they're both sent to Mars.
* ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales2017'': Happens to [[spoiler:Donald Duck]] at the end of the episode "The Golden Spear!", after seeing a spaceship crash to earth. He assumes that [[spoiler:his long-lost sister, Della]] is inside the spaceship and runs to the site of the crash, only for him to get trapped inside the spaceship and taken to the moon.

* ''WesternAnimation/PlanetSheen'': The inciting incident is when Sheen finds a rocket in Jimmy's lab, gets inside, and ignores the instruction to not press the launch button, sending him blasting off to a distant alien planet.

* ''WesternAnimation/ShortyMcShortShorts'': The segment "Dudley and Nestor Do Nothing" sees the titular characters on a field trip to a space center. Accidentally boarding a spacecraft in search of a restroom, the two are sent into space and inadvertently save the planet from an asteroid.

The second method involves an officially endorsed launch that's on schedule but, for whatever reason, whether be it an accidental mix up of unauthorized crew or a character is a stowaway who snuck on board the spacecraft, the launch proceeds as planned with the character hitching an unintended ride into the cosmos. Sometimes this will involve the MissionControl team [[OhCrap noticing this mistake at the last second]] and either failing to or are unable to abort the launch in time to save them.

* ''WesternAnimation/CuriousGeorge2006'': At the end of the film, George and Ted were accidently launched into space.

* ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'': Played with in the special "Blackadder Back and Forth". Blackadder claims to have built a time machine, betting his friends that he can travel through time and space and collect relics from the past. When he enters the machine and believes it to be a decoy, Blackadder activates the controls, and then finds the machine actually works, sending them back to the age of the dinosaurs. Unfortunately, Baldrick forgot to label the dials with the numbers to set the date, and unable to return to the present time, they are doomed to fly through time for all time, with plenty of shots of the machine flying through space (surrounded by spacecraft when they travel too far into the future).

* ''WesternAnimation/PlanetSheen'': The inciting incident is that Sheen finds a rocket in Jimmy's lab, gets inside, and ignores the instruction to not press the launch button, sending him blasting off to a distant alien planet.

** The titular cast are captured by Doctor Strangemoon, who believes the musical group and their roadies are spies sent by the government. For some reason, the Mad Scientist decides to put three of the six (Alexander, Melody and Alexandra) aboard his space capsule. These three are successfully launched into orbit, despite the added 300 pounds in the nose section.

[[/folder]]

* ''Series/{{Scorpion}}'': In "It Isn't The Fall That Kills You," a freak lightning strike while Walter is working on a shuttle results in him being launched into space. This is of course a problem, as the shuttle wasn't ready to launch even before being damaged; multiple systems aren't working, including the oxygen. Walter quickly succumbs to hypoxia, forcing the team to throw together a rescue plan that involves ''forcing the door and flushing him into the upper atmosphere''.

* ''WesternAnimation/JosieAndThePussyCats'':

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'': In the short "Rocket to Mars", Popeye and Olive Oyl get inside a rocket ship at a museum, and cause it to blast off to Mars where they them must thwart a Martian invasion of Earth.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'': Subverted during the "Island Adventures" mini-arc. In a parody of ''Series/GilligansIsland'', the Titans build a rocket to escape from the island after finding barrels of rocket fuel scattered around the area. Beastboy decided to make lunch for the Titans, but in his stupidity, hits the "Launch" button before anyone has a chance to board. The rocket takes off and quickly explodes, much to the relief of everyone upon realizing it would've killed them.

Suggested Indexes: AccidentalIndex, ArtisticLicenseEngineering, ArtisticLicenseSpace, {{Spacecraft}}, TropesInSpace, VehicleIndex.
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