What happened during the nedelin catastrophe?
What happened during the nedelin catastrophe?
This detonated the first stage fuel tanks directly below, destroying the missile in an enormous explosion. The explosion incinerated or asphyxiated Nedelin, a top aide, the USSR’s top missile-guidance designer, and over 70 other officers and engineers. Others died later of burns or poisoning.
How many Soviets died for their space program?
The Russian space agency, citing Soviet scientist Boris Chertok, says 126 people died, but also notes that the exact number of casualties is hard to pin down and may range between 60 and 150. The testing crew accidentally initiated the second stage of the rocket, which ignited the first stage causing the disaster.
What happened in the Nedelin catastrophe?
Nedelin catastrophe. The Nedelin catastrophe or Nedelin disaster was a launch pad accident that occurred on 24 October 1960 at Baikonur test range (of which Baikonur Cosmodrome is a part), during the development of the Soviet ICBM R-16.
What happened to Marshal Nedelin?
A news release stated that Nedelin had died “in a plane crash while on an undisclosed mission.” The Italian news agency Continentale first reported on 8 December 1960, from undisclosed sources, that Marshal Nedelin and 100 people had been killed in a rocket explosion.
Who was Mitrofan Nedelin and how did he die?
The disaster is named after Chief marshal of Artillery Mitrofan Ivanovich Nedelin, who was killed in the explosion. As commanding officer of the Soviet Union’s Strategic Rocket Forces, Nedelin was the head of the R-16 development program.
Who was involved in the Chernobyl missile accident?
The Guardian reported on 16 October 1965, that captured spy Oleg Penkovsky had confirmed details of the missile accident, and exiled scientist and Soviet dissident Zhores Medvedev provided further details in 1976 in the British weekly magazine New Scientist.
