Dark5 | 5 Biggest Explosions to Ever Happen @dark5tv | Uploaded 2 years ago | Updated 1 day ago
On July 3, 1969, 17 days before the Americans landed on the Moon, the Soviet Union’s N1 heavy-lift rocket lifted off on its second launch attempt. However, a loose bolt created a series of malfunctions that resulted in what is considered the most massive non-nuclear man-made explosion in history.
Studies to develop the N1 program began as early as 1959, two years before Gagarin became the first man to fly into space when the Soviet Space Program had the edge over the Americans.
Developed to compete against NASA's Saturn V rocket in the race to the Moon, the fully loaded Soviet N1-L3 heavy-lift rocket stood 105 meters tall and weighed 2,788 tonnes.
However, the N1 program was rushed in 1961 when US President John F. Kennedy announced that his administration was committed to giving NASA as much funds as required to land an American man on the Moon within the decade.
Meanwhile, the genius engineer and designer behind the Soviet Space Program, Sergei Korolev, was given a small amount of funding to initiate the project.
To gain more funds for N1, Korolev attempted to convince the top brass that such a powerful heavy-lift rocket could also deliver nuclear payloads as heavy as the Tsar Bomba, launched in October of 1961.
Still, the military top brass was not entirely convinced and did not pay much attention to N1.
Development was troublesome and underfunded, and it became even worse after Korolev passed away in 1966.
Three years later, N1 was complete and comprised three stages that would carry the L3 lunar payload into low Earth orbit with two cosmonauts aboard. One stage was for trans-lunar injection, another for mid-course corrections, lunar orbit insertion, and lunar surface descent. The third was meant for a safe return to Earth.
As N1 lifted off in July of 1969 in its second attempt, a loose bolt destroyed a fuel pump, which led the automatic engine control to shut down 29 out of the 30 rocket engines mid-air.
Over 2,500 tons of liquid oxygen and kerosene exploded with a force of 7 kilotons, delaying the Soviet Space program for 18 months.
The four attempts to launch N1 failed miserably, with the second becoming the biggest artificial non-nuclear explosion to date.
A fifth launch was suspended in 1974, and the project was officially canceled two years later, in 1976. N1 would go down in history as one of the most significant failures of the Space Race.
On July 3, 1969, 17 days before the Americans landed on the Moon, the Soviet Union’s N1 heavy-lift rocket lifted off on its second launch attempt. However, a loose bolt created a series of malfunctions that resulted in what is considered the most massive non-nuclear man-made explosion in history.
Studies to develop the N1 program began as early as 1959, two years before Gagarin became the first man to fly into space when the Soviet Space Program had the edge over the Americans.
Developed to compete against NASA's Saturn V rocket in the race to the Moon, the fully loaded Soviet N1-L3 heavy-lift rocket stood 105 meters tall and weighed 2,788 tonnes.
However, the N1 program was rushed in 1961 when US President John F. Kennedy announced that his administration was committed to giving NASA as much funds as required to land an American man on the Moon within the decade.
Meanwhile, the genius engineer and designer behind the Soviet Space Program, Sergei Korolev, was given a small amount of funding to initiate the project.
To gain more funds for N1, Korolev attempted to convince the top brass that such a powerful heavy-lift rocket could also deliver nuclear payloads as heavy as the Tsar Bomba, launched in October of 1961.
Still, the military top brass was not entirely convinced and did not pay much attention to N1.
Development was troublesome and underfunded, and it became even worse after Korolev passed away in 1966.
Three years later, N1 was complete and comprised three stages that would carry the L3 lunar payload into low Earth orbit with two cosmonauts aboard. One stage was for trans-lunar injection, another for mid-course corrections, lunar orbit insertion, and lunar surface descent. The third was meant for a safe return to Earth.
As N1 lifted off in July of 1969 in its second attempt, a loose bolt destroyed a fuel pump, which led the automatic engine control to shut down 29 out of the 30 rocket engines mid-air.
Over 2,500 tons of liquid oxygen and kerosene exploded with a force of 7 kilotons, delaying the Soviet Space program for 18 months.
The four attempts to launch N1 failed miserably, with the second becoming the biggest artificial non-nuclear explosion to date.
A fifth launch was suspended in 1974, and the project was officially canceled two years later, in 1976. N1 would go down in history as one of the most significant failures of the Space Race.
