I am One Out of Fourteen

Question

I tried twice to be one of 14 though it was not to be

My first was normal and no ones tragedy

the second was definitely someone's mistake

as the very air I breathed was enough to cause a break.

Who am I and what did I fail to do?

Answer 1

You are:

Fred Wallace Haise Junior
12 people have walked on the moon, but it would have been 14 (including you) if Apollo 13 had not run into problems (no-one's mistake)
You were due to go to the moon again on Apollo 19 but this was cancelled - this was someone's mistake.