Originally posted by Pamplemousse of France
In fact, it wasn't totally his fault. He wanted to use cryogenic engines for his N-1 rocket (N: Nositel = carrier), the motorist (Glushko) didn't want. Because there wasn't at that time a space agency like NASA, ASI or CNES, he wasn't able to impose his choise to Glushko. So he asked to an aircraft engine builder, Kuznetsov, to build the cryogenic engine. But because Kuznetsov didn't know how to build big engines, he built a small one, the NK-33. To allow the rocket to take off, 30 of these engines were needed. The delay caused by this story made the governement to cancel the static test of the first stage, because they were afraid the americans will send their men first. The NK-33 worked prodigiously well when it was alone, but the great number of engines caused vibrations that destroyed the rocket. Four flight were done, all failure:
- February 21st, 1969: vibrations broke a LOX line, the stage burned and exploded at the 70th second.
- July 3rd, 1969: at the moment of the lift off, a metallic part made the 8th engine LOX turbopump to explode. The rocket fell on its pad at the 18th second.
- 1971: a the 7th second, the rocket began to destroy because of roll (roulis ?). The second stage began to destroy at the 48th second. The KORD (flight computer) cut all the engines, and the rocket crashed on its pad.
- 1972: the lift off was good. At the 90th second, the KORD cut the six central engines of the first stage in accordance with the flight plan. But because the fuel pressure was applied on only 24 engines instead of 30, a surpressure destroyed a LOX line. The first stage began to burn and exploded and the 107th second. A few second before the first stage was released...
- February 21st, 1969: vibrations broke a LOX line, the stage burned and exploded at the 70th second.
- July 3rd, 1969: at the moment of the lift off, a metallic part made the 8th engine LOX turbopump to explode. The rocket fell on its pad at the 18th second.
- 1971: a the 7th second, the rocket began to destroy because of roll (roulis ?). The second stage began to destroy at the 48th second. The KORD (flight computer) cut all the engines, and the rocket crashed on its pad.
- 1972: the lift off was good. At the 90th second, the KORD cut the six central engines of the first stage in accordance with the flight plan. But because the fuel pressure was applied on only 24 engines instead of 30, a surpressure destroyed a LOX line. The first stage began to burn and exploded and the 107th second. A few second before the first stage was released...
I know , was just pasting a summary from another website. I know because I've just finished reaching the book 'Space Race' based on the BBC series, great book. I highly recommend it to any interested in that topic.
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