Soviet test disasters

The Soviets were building larger Korabl Sputniks, officially designated “manned spacecraft prototypes”. They were already trying to launch Mars probes and had sent one (Luna 1) into the moon in September 1959. Two Soviet efforts had failed at the fourth stage when on 24 October 1960, their third attempt failed and Marshal Nedelin, who was in charge, would not accept the delay so went forward to investigate. Aldrin:

The countdown reached zero and the ignition signal was transmitted. But the clustered booster engines failed to ignite, possibly because of an electronic fault in the massive rocket’s first stage. Korolev issued the proper “safing” commands, which disabled the booster’s main electrical systems. Under normal circumstances, the rocket would be drained of fuel, tested for malfunctions, and refueled for the next launch attempt: this could take weeks, but Marshal Nedelin could not accept this delay. He desperately needed a success, or he would face Khrushchev’s wrath. Nedelin led a team of engineers from the blockhouse to the launch pad to inspect the rocket.

Korolev wisely stayed sheltered within the thick concrete walls of the launch bunker, a safe distance from the pad.

As Khrushchev later recalled in his memoirs, “The rocket reared up and fell, throwing acid and flames all over the place… Dozens of soldiers, specialists, and technical personnel…” died in the disaster. “Nedelin was sitting nearby watching the test when the missile malfunctioned, and he was killed.”

It was not until December 1960 that a successful test of the Mercury Redstone (M‑R 1) was achieved. After his election, President Kennedy delegated space affairs to his Vice‑President Lyndon Johnson. M‑R 2 carried a chimpanzee named Ham. It produced unexpectedly high thrust. It landed down range having pulled 15g on reentry. The next launch was delayed until April.

Aldrin was by this time at MIT. The Soviet manned spacecraft was named Vostok, which meant the East. Their chief designer, Korolev, who had designed it in 1958, favored the same design as NASA, a lightweight Titanium alloy blunt body. Soviet premier Krushchev insisted that it land on home soil, so it had to be heavy enough to survive impact but light enough for a parachute descent. The Vostok spacecraft was constructed of two parts: a re‑entry module and an instrument unit. The re‑entry module was spherical, heat shielded all over and was equipped with ejection seats; the instrument unit was detached before re‑entry. Because the re‑entry module was spherical, the re‑entry angle was not as critical as it was for the US spacecraft. At 24,000 feet the hatch of the Vostok would blow and the cosmonaut would eject. On 1 December 1960 Korabl‑Sputnik 3 burnt up on re‑entry because the descent angle was too steep; it was carrying two dogs. In March 1961 Korab Sputniks 4 and 5 were successfully launched as practice runs for the first manned space flight attempt; the dogs inside survived. The final test was a mock‑up spacecraft, carrying a Vostok ejection seat and an experienced parachutist, wearing a spacesuit. The mock‑up spacecraft was dropped out of a high‑flying transport aircraft but unfortunately the parachutist was killed because the hatch was too small. Korolev modified the design to ensure safe ejection, finally requesting that the cosmonaut should be small enough for safe ejection.

On 19 January 1965 a second Gemini test was launched. The spacecraft contained a dummy crew and was fired 159km above the South Atlantic. It reached a higher temperature than any mission so far and splashed down safely after a 19‑minute flight. Modifications to the Titan rocket fuel distribution dampened the violent oscillations which were experienced just after launch. The next Gemini mission could be manned.

But before Gemini III could be launched the Soviets astonished the world with another achievement.