There are many tragic pages in the history of astronautics. On October 24, 1960, six months before the triumphal flight of Yuri Gagarin, the tests of the R-16 intercontinental ballistic missile at the Baikonur cosmodrome led to an accident with numerous casualties. In the West, it was dubbed the "Nedelin Catastrophe."
Catch up and overtake America
Intensive work in the field of space technology went on simultaneously on the territory of the two largest world powers - the USSR and the USA. In an effort to "catch up and overtake America" on December 17, 1956, a government decree "On the creation of the R-16 intercontinental ballistic missile" was adopted.
The rocket was created using high-boiling toxic components. The government demanded that work on it proceed at an accelerated pace. Despite the fact that the special commission noted a number of shortcomings of the project, it was adopted. Initially, the tests were scheduled for June 1961, but due to the aggravation of the international situation (we are talking about the so-called "Berlin crisis"), they were postponed to the fourth quarter of 1960.
As a result, the first launch was scheduled for October 23 - in order to have time to carry it out by the next anniversary of the October Revolution. The tests were to take place at the Tyuratam test site (this was later given the name "Baikonur"). They were led by the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces, Chief Marshal of Artillery M. I.
Nedelin, Chief Designer of OKB-586 M. K. Yangel.
In preparation for launch, the pyromembrane of the 1st stage fuel lines was blown up as a result of a short circuit. The defect was eliminated by replacing the power distributor and the cut-off valves of the 1st stage engine. Although there was a likelihood of other shortcomings, they decided not to postpone the launch further, since the rocket could be at the start for no more than a day.
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Fiery hell
At the time of launch, there were about 250 people at the launch site, including Nedelin himself. October 24
at about 18:45, they announced a 30-minute readiness and began zeroing the software power distributor. At this stage, an unauthorized start of the second stage engine occurred. The first stage tanks were destroyed, resulting in the explosion of propellant components.
The flames killed everyone who was near the launch pad. Among them were Marshal Nedelin, deputy chief of the range, engineer-colonel A. I. Nosov, chiefs of the 1st and 2nd polygon directorates, engineer-colonels E. I. Ostashev and R. M. Grigoryants, Deputy Chief Designer of OKB-586 L. A. Berlin and V. A. Kontsevoy, deputy chief designer of OKB-456 G. F. Firsov, chief designer of OKB-692 B. M. Konoplyov.
According to various sources, the death toll was from 74 to 126 people. Dozens of people received wounds and burns. M. K. Yangel, absent for a while in the smoking room. It was he who immediately after the incident sent a telephone message to the Kremlin.
Soon, doctors and firefighters flocked to the 41st site, where the P-16 was tested. The survivors were sent to hospitals, the corpses were piled in a special room. Subsequently, many turned out to be extremely difficult to identify, since the bodies were disfigured beyond recognition. From Nedelin, for example, only the melted star of the Hero of the Soviet Union remained, the wristwatch stopped at the moment of the explosion and the marshal's shoulder strap … Konoplev was identified only by his height - he was the tallest of those present on the site.
Who's guilty?
Already on the night of October 25, a government commission headed by the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR L. I. Brezhnev. As a result of the investigation, gross violation of safety measures was recognized as the main cause of the accident. But no one was ever punished for this, since those responsible for safety and development of the control system also died in the explosion. Yangel did not suffer either, for whom, despite the strained relations, the Chief Designer S. P. Korolyov. “It could have happened with me too - a new technique …” - he told Khrushchev.
The crash data was classified. As for Nedelin, they announced that he allegedly died tragically in a plane crash. The relatives and friends of the victims were advised to keep silent about the tragedy. They even tried to bury the victims secretly …
Although, of course, information was leaked to the foreign press. In the Soviet Union, the first publication about the tragedy at Baikonur was published only during perestroika - in 1989 in the Ogonyok magazine. This disaster became the largest in the history of rocketry.