Status
Prelaunch Failure
Soyuz 7K-OK n°1
Wed Dec 14, 1966 11:27 UTC
Unforeseen interaction between Launch Escape System gyroscopes and rotation of the Earth caused the escape system to abruptly activate while the vehicle was still on the pad after an aborted launch attempt. The launcher was set on fire, and exploded soon after.
All the employees managed to escape, but Major Korostilev, hidden behind a wall, died asphyxiated by the smoke. The next day, two more soldiers died trying to put out the fire.
Rocket
Mission Details
Soyuz 7K-OK n°1
Soyuz 7K-OK n°1 was the second uncrewed test flight of the Soyuz spacecraft, and first mission of the Soyuz programme, as part of the Soviet space programme.
This should have been Soyuz's 2nd flight.
The Soyuz is a Soviet crewed spaceship, developed to made manned lunar missions. This version called 7K will fly 4 times on the giant launcher N1, and several tens of times on Proton to fly over the Moon, which will be successful during the mission Zond 4. Soyuz will become the first spacecraft to transport living beings to the Moon during the flight of Zond 5, with two turtles. Subsequently, it is adapted to low orbit and will fly on the Soyuz launcher to serve the Salyut and Mir stations and the ISS.