Start without the necessary improvements ended in disaster

On October 24, 1960, at the Baikonur training ground (then called Tyuratam), an experimental intercontinental ballistic missile R-16 exploded at the start, as a result of which 74 people died (according to other sources – 126).

Among the dead were many Soviet rocket designers, as well as the commander of the USSR missile forces, Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin. According to experts, this catastrophe has become the worst in the history of world cosmonautics and rocket technology. As reported on the Military Review portal, “this disaster was a terrible blow to the Russian space industry and rocket science” (article “The worst disaster in the history of world rocket science” dated August 9, 2016).

In Soviet times, the data on this catastrophe were classified, and the public learned about it only in the late 1980s, during the era of “glasnost”, when access to the archives was opened. As explained in the journal “Science and Life” (article “Catastrophe at Baikonur”, No. 3, 1999), the R-16 rocket was a truly innovative product, as they would say now:

“For the first time in the history of the design of liquid-propellant ballistic missiles, the creators of the R-16 (OKB-586, led by designer Mikhail Yangel) used high-boiling components as fuel, which made it possible to significantly increase the range of combat use and the time spent fueled rocket at the starting position. At the same time, these substances were extremely chemically aggressive and toxic to humans, and required high-tech solutions in the process of being used as rocket fuel.”

However, in the context of an arms race between the recent partners in the anti-Hitler coalition – the USSR and the USA – “increasing the flight range” became a decisive factor in decision-making, and on December 17, 1956, a government decree was adopted “On the creation of an intercontinental ballistic missile R-16”.

Its first test launch was scheduled for October 23, 1960. The tests were to take place at the Tyuratam training ground. The preparation of the rocket for launch was led by a government commission, whose chairman was the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces, Chief Marshal of Artillery Mitrofan Nedelin, and the technical leader of the tests was the chief designer of OKB-586 and the creator of the rocket Mikhail Yangel. However, on the evening of October 23, during preparations for the launch, an unauthorized explosion of the membranes of the fuel lines and the squibs of the cut-off valves of the gas generator of the 1st block of the propulsion engine was recorded. The work was stopped until the causes of the incident were clarified. According to the technical conditions, a rocket with broken membranes could be at the start for no more than 24 hours. After that, it was necessary to drain the fuel components and return the rocket to the factory to clean the tanks, lines and engine bulkheads. Preparations for the launch of a new flying machine would take at least a month, which was unacceptable for political reasons. As one of the participants in the events later recalls, Marshal Nedelin said: “What will I say to Nikita? Rocket finalize at the start.

As a result, as described in the material of the journal “Science and Life”, “in the first half of the day on October 24, technicians eliminated the defects found, but it took a very long time to eliminate some of them. At a meeting of the state commission, it was decided to launch without modifications, and to break through the remaining pyromembrane manually.

Around 18:45, a 30-minute readiness for launch was announced. At this moment, when the software current distributor of the stepper motors of the control system was set to “zero”, an unauthorized launch of the second stage sustainer motor occurred, which should only be turned on in flight. Instantly, the fiery jet burned through the first-stage oxidizer and fuel tanks below, which contained 100 tons of fuel. The components of the fuel splashed out on the testers who were standing nearby. The fire almost instantly devoured those who were closest to the rocket, and poisonous fumes caused fatal poisoning. Fleeing from the fire, people tried to run away as far as possible, but because of the very high temperature level, their clothes flared up like a torch, many burned out without even taking a few steps.

Rocket designer Mikhail Yangel was saved from death by the fact that before the launch he decided to smoke and, together with several other employees, went to a specially equipped smoking room. It was he who, immediately after the incident, sent a telephone message to the Kremlin with a report on the incident and a request for assistance to the victims. Later, at a meeting of the government commission, which was created to investigate the circumstances and causes of the disaster, Mikhail Yangel noted that the number of victims and victims turned out to be so large, since they addressed the rocket with “you”, while with such complex equipment you need to contact “ you”. And academician Boris Chertok would later write that the cause of the disaster could be that they wanted to time the launch of the R-16 rocket to coincide with the celebration of the 53rd anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution.

The commission investigating the circumstances of the catastrophe that occurred at Baikonur made the following conclusions: “The test leaders demonstrated excessive confidence in the safety of the operation of the entire complex.”

However, no one was punished for this “excessive confidence in safety” due to the death of almost all those responsible … In the Soviet Union, all data on the disaster were strictly classified. Marshal Mitrofan Ivanovich Nedelin was declared tragically killed in a plane crash. The funeral of the rest of the victims was also held in secrecy, the causes of death were not called to the relatives and friends of the deceased, and it was recommended to keep silent about the tragedy.

Sergei Ishkov.

Photo source vdpo.rftopwar.ru