| Baikonur LC41/3 |
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LC41/3 Chronology 1960 October 24 - 15:45 GMT - Launch Vehicle: R-16. R-16 LKI FAILURE: Exploded on pad, killing nearly 100 people. Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 0 km ( mi). First attempted launch of R-16 ICBM results in explosion on pad, killing over 100 military, engineers, and technicians, including Strategic Rocket Forces Marshal Nedelin. The first R-16 prototype was fuelled and on the pad, awaiting launch. An electrical problem developed, leading to a hold. Marshal Nedelin, commander of the Strategic Rocket Forces, ordered the engineers and technicians to fix the problem without the long delay of defuelling and refurbishing the missile. He personally had a deck chair brought out to the pad so he could watch the work first-hand. At 18:45 local time a spurious radio signal ordered the second stage of the rocket to fire while workers swarmed around the missile in its gantry. The missile exploded, killing a good part of the Soviet Union's rocket engineering and management talent. Among the dead were Nedelin, Konoptev, Grishin, Nosov, Kontsevsky, and Lev Berlin. 74 people were killed immediately, and 48 died in the ensuing weeks from burns or contact with the toxic and corrosive propellants. The total included 38 civilian engineers and 84 officers and enlisted rocket technicians. Yangel, the rocket's designer, was spared only because he had slipped into a bunker for a cigarette when the explosion occurred. 1963 August 30 - 06:30 GMT - Launch Vehicle: R-16. T Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 754 km (468 mi). 1963 September 4 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. T Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1963 September 10 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Military training launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1963 September 26 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Military training launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1963 October 1 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Operational test launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1963 October 23 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Operational test launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1963 November 22 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Operational test launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1963 December 12 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Military training launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1963 December 20 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Military training launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1964 February 6 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Operational test launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1964 September 10 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Operational test launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1964 December 18 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. K OT? operational test launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1964 December 26 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Operational test launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1965 February 26 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. PBG Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1965 May 22 - 06:29 GMT - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Military training launch to Kamchatka Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 920 km (570 mi). 1965 September 18 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. PBG Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1965 September 25 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Military training launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1965 November 4 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Operational test launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1965 December 25 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Military training launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1965 December 26 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Military training launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1966 May 21 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. FAILURE: Failure. PBG Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 0 km ( mi). 1966 June 4 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Military training launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1966 June 8 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Military training launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1966 August 25 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Military training launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1966 November 4 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Combat training launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1966 November 17 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Combat training launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1966 November 24 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Combat training launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1967 March 4 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Operational missile test Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1967 May 24 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Combat training launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). 1967 December 22 - Launch Vehicle: R-16. Combat training launch Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,210 km (750 mi). Contact us with any corrections, additions, or comments. Conditions for use of drawings, pictures, or other materials from this site.. To contact astronauts or cosmonauts. © Mark Wade, 1997 - 2008 except where otherwise noted. |
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