Apr 16 1989
From The Space Library
The Soviet weekly magazine Ogonyok revealed additional details on the circumstances surrounding a mysterious launch pad explosion of a Soviet rocket in 1960 that killed dozens of workers and the commander of the Soviet Union's rocket forces. Ogonyok attributed the accident, which took place at a secret launch facility at Tura-Tam, near the Aral Sea, to a flouting of safety rules during a crash program to catch up with the United States in the development of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs). The head of the Soviet Rocket Forces, Chief Artillery Marshal Mitrofan I. Nedelin, was killed along with dozens of workers and soldiers who were situated near the pad when the rocket exploded. (AP, Apr 17/89; B Sun, Apr 17/89; W Times, Apr 17/89; C Trib, Apr 17/89)
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