History's worst rocket disaster


	History's worst rocket disaster
masbury
5-5-2009 6:22 PM
186 views
tags:
rockets, transportation, space
masbury says:
October 23, 1960 - Baikonur, Kazakhstan
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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/2c56667e-f76f-4ce0-b466-3f429a166978/65022480-C884-4AD9-88D3-E4FBD34F1E14/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://gizmodo.com/5239848/how-not-to-launch-a-rocket-the-nedelin-disaster" href="http://gizmodo.com/5239848/how-not-to-launch-a-rocket-the-nedelin-disaster" style="font-size: 11px;">gizmodo.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://gizmodo.com/5239848/how-not-to-launch-a-rocket-the-nedelin-disaster"><div align="center"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/gizmodo.com/img/915FB961-3559-4309-AC8E-54552E2876A7" alt="R-16 Nedelin Disaster" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://gizmodo.com/5239848/how-not-to-launch-a-rocket-the-nedelin-disaster">In October 1960, the R-16 was hoisted upright for launch at Baikonur, Russia's ultrasecret equivalent of Cape Kennedy</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://gizmodo.com/5239848/how-not-to-launch-a-rocket-the-nedelin-disaster">And so began the single greatest rocket disaster in history.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://gizmodo.com/5239848/how-not-to-launch-a-rocket-the-nedelin-disaster">The R-16's "storable" fuels</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://gizmodo.com/5239848/how-not-to-launch-a-rocket-the-nedelin-disaster">were viciously corrosive</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://gizmodo.com/5239848/how-not-to-launch-a-rocket-the-nedelin-disaster">oozing from dozens of pipe joints and tank seams</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://gizmodo.com/5239848/how-not-to-launch-a-rocket-the-nedelin-disaster">As zero hour approached, the rocket began to drip nitric acid</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://gizmodo.com/5239848/how-not-to-launch-a-rocket-the-nedelin-disaster"><P>Suddenly, the rocket exploded, instantly killing everyone on the gantry. With nothing to support it, the upper stage crashed to the ground, spilling fuel and flame. The new tarmac aprons and roadways around the gantry melted in the heat, then caught fire. Ground staff fleeing for their lives were trapped in the viscous tar as it burned all around them. The conflagration spread for thousands of yards, a wave of fire engulfing everything and everyone in its path. More than 190 people were killed, including Nedelin, perched on his chair near the gantry as a surge of blazing chemicals swept toward him.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://gizmodo.com/5239848/how-not-to-launch-a-rocket-the-nedelin-disaster"><div align="center"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/gizmodo.com/img/7259E054-0AC6-428E-87F5-EDA5ACAC9D57" alt="The aftermath" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://gizmodo.com/5239848/how-not-to-launch-a-rocket-the-nedelin-disaster"><div align="center"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/gizmodo.com/img/E28CB1FA-4ADE-4B49-B782-872D210034BB" alt="Man on fire running away" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://gizmodo.com/5239848/how-not-to-launch-a-rocket-the-nedelin-disaster"><div align="center"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/gizmodo.com/img/67B6DF14-4503-4C3C-AFB3-5031F1AA9D58" alt="Firemen on the scene" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://gizmodo.com/5239848/how-not-to-launch-a-rocket-the-nedelin-disaster"><div align="center"><embed src="http://embed.break.com/NTY0MTQ0" height="329" width="400" wmode="opaque" quality="high" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://gizmodo.com/5239848/how-not-to-launch-a-rocket-the-nedelin-disaster"><I>From Piers Bizony's</I> How To Build Your Own Spaceship</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/65022480-C884-4AD9-88D3-E4FBD34F1E14/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>
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