Today -- 50th Anniv Worst-Ever Space Disaster

50th anniv russ rocket disaster -- NEW VIDEO



1. October 24 (Sunday) is the 50th anniversary

of the worst human disaster of the rocket/space era.



2. A military missile being prepared for launch at

the 'Baykonur' rocket center in Kazakhstan blew up

before launch while ground crews and officials were

still gathered around it.



3. Even today the exact death toll is uncertain, with

estimate from in the 70's to the 90's and some rumors

above 200. Many bodies were totally burned away; other

men, critically injured, were evacuated to distant hospitals

and their fates never recorded. Most space historians

agree the total was about 92 dead.



4. To mark this event, which is receiving major press

coverage in Russia and Ukraine (where the rocket was built),

a new 28 minute video has been released. Info:

inform.kz... (in Russian]



5. Yesterday morning it was posted on youtube. It contains

the most clear, extensive, and unbroken scenes of the

fire itself and its aftermath ever seen in public, by far.



6. You can see the men, on fire, running for their lives,

and falling, or becoming ensnared in barbed wire barriers.

That scene, I believe, was originally B&W but has been

colorized, probably accurately.



7. Link and scene list below.



8. My 1990 account of the disaster is here:

www.astronautix.com...



9. I have been to Baykonur several times, both to the

memorial obelisk in the city, and once (in 2005) to the

actual disaster point, "Pad 41" in the northeeastern corner

of the cosmodrome (rocket base).



10. The story is a chilling one, and these videos are

gut-wrenching. Viewer discretion is advised.



11. There have been other rocket pad disasters -- fifty

men died at a military satellite base in Russia in 1980,

and 22 men were killed in Brazil, and handfuls in the US --

but this is the granddaddy of them all.



12. This anniversary kicks off a series of "50th" dates in

Russia leading up to the 50th anniversary of Gagarin's

first-ever man-in-space flight next April. This is a big deal

in moscow -- vladimir Putin himself is organizing the

celebrations.



Jim O





Recent Russian/Ukr press coverage of Nedelin Disaster



www.nvgazeta.ru...

www.rian.ru...

newsland.ru...

telegrafua.com...

www.aif.ru...

rus.ruvr.ru...

inform.kz...

rg.kiev.ua...

www.rusverlag.de...,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=1851&cntnt01relid=138&cntnt01mag_id=1&cntnt01returnid=15





NEW VIDEO



"The day when the rockets didn't launch"

Just released in Russia; Two parts on youtube, just posted.



День, когда не стартуют ракеты. 1 часть [14 min]

www.youtube.com...

03:25 model of Yangel R-16 missile on pad, ‘Area 41’

04:10 modern workers handling ‘heptyl’ fuel, extremely explosive

04:43 switch to B&W views of prep of R-16 missile, circa 1960

05:34 modern CGI of rocket roll-out to pad

05:49 for comparison, roll-out of modern ‘Soyuz’ booster (safe fuels)

06:31 back to 1960 views of R-16 prep

Map of USSR surrounded by US bases – R-16 launch was urgent

07:45 account of U-2 shootdown

08:00 reports ‘Atlas’ missile launch to max range

(but shows Mercury Redstone NASA launch)

(discusses how US dcould destroy USSR’s 4 missile pads

before they could be launched – needed a faster missile)

09:00 color scenes of R-16 rocket on pad

09:10 current scenes of astronaut training for ISS

09:40 back to the evening of Oct 24, 1960

10:20 Chief Designer Yangel arrives to inspect missile

(a lot of these scenes had to have been reenacted)

10:45 CGI of second stage igniting accidentally, blowing up

10:55 actual film of explosion (I suspect colorized)

THESE ARE THE SHARPEST VIDEO SCENES OF THIS DISASTER

EVER RELEASED. YOU CAN SEE THE MEN FLEEING THE

FLAMES, WHILE ON FIRE THEMSELVES, AND FALLING TO

THE GROUND. 40 SECONDS OF ABSOLUTE HELL ON EARTH.

11:33 More authentic footage of rescue teams trying to fight the fire

11:42 Scene-setting views of peaceful Baykonur city, inhabitants

12:15 Reenactors scenes of rumors and fear after explosion

12:45 comments from Vitaliy Nosov, whose father died in the fire

13:20 reenactment of sending Kremlin top secret news of disaster





part 2

День, когда не стартуют ракеты. 2 часть [13 min]

www.youtube.com...

00:00 scenes of devastation at launch pad

MOST COMPLETE COLLECTION OF SCENES EVER BROADCAST

00:24 List of names of dead, from a monument later erected in city

00:33 comments from Mikhail Ostashev, grandson of one of the victims

Interspersed with disaster scenes

01:00 Brezhnev heads of investigation commission

…more stuff afterwards

07:00 Dedication of monument AT the launch pad itself, only a few years ago.

I’VE BEEN AT THAT SITE AND HAVE SPECIFIC MEMORIES AND PHOTOS.

Eternal flame shown burning.

…more memories

10:50 modern sign pointing to disaster point, “Place of loss of the testers”,

“Pad 41, 1.0 km”

11:04 pan of site today

11:15 annual memorial service in Baykonur – note priest

reply to post by JimOberg


Ty for the sad reminder of some ole hero's.....
I did not know all the details, and for the matter...i did not know much at all, about this specifically..

reply to post by JimOberg


Thank you for the information Jim, will watch the video and check out the links later, this was sad indeed, in the meantime I am recording one of your old friends vintage shows, that would be Art Bell. Think I have a couple of interviews you did with him back in the day.

Only the worst for the Soviet Union.

There are those who would argue that Laika was the worst as there are dog lovers world wide. She died in re-entry due to no heat shield and was just vaporized. Americans may even point out the Challenger was worse, for American's.

reply to post by JimOberg

"The day when the rockets didn't launch"

Just released in Russia; Two parts on youtube, just posted.



День, когда не стартуют ракеты. 1 часть [14 min]

Just finished watching the video, my neighbor who is fluent in Russian and lived there at the time this happened came over and watched it with me translated as we went along.

Thank you for the observance, Jim. Their sacrifice for their country should not be forgotten.

I skipped the video. I have seen quite enough footage of the Nedelin disaster, and frankly wish I could purge those memories from my mind. (shudder)

Since I have heard James Oberg on numerous interviews and have seen him on television it's been a long, long time, so for those who would like to see what he looks like and a little bit about him check out his website.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8dbbea0d25c1.jpg[/atsimg]

James Oberg, 63, is one of the world's leading popularizers and interpreters of space exploration. As the NBC News 'Space Consultant' he often appears in broadcast and website assessments of space events, explaining them and placing them in broader context, and usual breaking 'inside stories' far ahead of other news media sites. As guide for public-access expeditions to space-related locations for the American Museum of Natural History, he interprets space achievements as manifestations of human ingenuity and creativity, painted on metal and concrete and plastic rather than the more traditional canvas and marble and textiles. As contributor to numerous space technology publications he assesses in depth the important accomplishments and trends of developments in space activities around the world, not only in the US but in Russia and China and elsewhere.

jamesoberg.com...

Here is a link to Jim Oberg speaks

jamesoberg.com...

reply to post by JimOberg



I think that is a sad story. My heart goes out to their families. I heard about this when I was young but never knew the details. I'd still ride a rocket into space anyday even knowing the risks

Touching images of the ceremonies at Baykonur here:

www.polit.ru...

Originally posted by JimOberg
Touching images of the ceremonies at Baykonur here:

www.polit.ru...

Thanks for the link, Jim.

I noticed that the article referred to another accident, three years later, of which I was not previously aware. I looked it up in Encyclopedia Astronautica:

On 24 October 1963 an R-9 (a.k.a. SS-8 "Sasin") was being prepared for launch in a Desna-V silo. Unknown to the 11 man launch crew, an oxygen leak in the fuelling system had raised the oxygen partial pressure in the silo from the 21% maximum allowed to 32%. Whie the crew was descending in a lift to the 8th level of the silo, a spark from an electrical panel created a fire in the explosive atmosphere, killing seven and destroying the silo. This happened on the same day as the Nedelin disaster three years earlier (which involved the R-16/SS-7 "Saddler"), and became the cosmodrome's 'Black Day'. Forever after no launches were attempted from Baikonur on October 24.

I find it ironic that the R-9 was advocated by Korolev because it used "safer" propellants; LOx/Kerosene versus the hypergolic propellants used by the R-16.

reply to post by JimOberg


JimOberg.....

Thank you for sharing this very interesting material.

I continue to be in awe of those people that "got us to the stars".

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not