The site after the explosion.
The Nedelin disaster occurred on 24th October 1960 at the Baikonour Cosmodrome during the development of R-16 Soviet ICBM. The prototype of the missile was being prepared for a test when the second stage ignited improperly and led to a blast killing around 100 people. Chief of Artillery Forces Marshall Mitrofan Nedelin was killed in the explosion. The official death toll was 90, but estimates are as high as 200, with 120 being the generally accepted figure. Despite the magnitude of the disaster, news of it was covered up for many years by the Soviet government and did not emerge until the 1990s. After the explosion, news was sent to all relatives of the deceased that they have died in a aircrash. The then General Secretary Nikita Khruschev ordered that the information shouldn’t be spread to the world and this news was made available only after the disintegration of the USSR in 1991.
Rocket exploding at site.
Unlike NASA, the Space Research in the Soviet Union had a lot of competition. There were three designers who competed amongst themselves to design ambitious Soviet space programs. Mikhail Yangel, Sergei Korylev were the popular ones, however Sergei Korylev was considered to be the most successful designer. This particular program was headed by Yangel.
Chief of Artillery Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin.
On 23 October, the R-16 rocket prototype was on the launching pad awaiting final tests before its firing. The rocket was filled with UDMH-Nitric acid which is used in rocketry despite the fact that it was an extremely corrosive and toxic binary fuel that produces poisonous gas when burned. These risks were accounted for in the safety procedures in preparing the rocket for launching, but, late that day, technicians accidentally ruptured the pyrotechnic membranes of the first-stage fuel lines and allowed the fuel in to the combustion chamber. The nitric acid component was so corrosive that it damaged the R-16 rocket. Thus, the rocket team had only a two options. It was to launch the rocket next day or drain the fuel from the rocket and then rebuild the engine and so delay the program several weeks. Morever, Yangel was much eager to complete the program before the 43rd Anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. He wanted to present the successful result to Nikita Khruschev.
R-16 ICBM before the explosion. Photo taken in the Soviet Union.
When the second stage blasted, Nedelin and 125 other rocket personnel were killed, but Yangel survived. He had left the area to smoke a cigarette, where he and the chief technicians discussed possibly abandoning the rocket launching. After inspecting the site, Nikita Khruschev asked Yangel, “But why have you survived?”. In a trembling voice, Yangel replied, “I went away for a smoke. It’s all my fault”. A memorial to the dead was erected near Baikonur and it is still visited by RKA(Russian Space Agency) officials before any manned launch.
-Krishna Kumar.S
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