On October 24, 1960, at 6:45 p.m., a prototype of an intercontinental ballistic missile known as the R-16 caught fire on its launch pad at the Baikonour Cosmodrome in what became one of the worst disasters in the history of rocketry. The 1994 State Commission recorded 78 deaths: 74 at the site and four in hospitals. The cause was not a fuel leak or an accidental launch order, but a small electromechanical component known as a sequence programmer, which remained in an improper position. This error sent a signal that opened the second stage valves of the R-16 while it was still on the ground, triggering a catastrophic chain reaction. Political pressure to have the missile fly before November 7, the 43rd anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution, led to safety instructions being ignored. Marshal Mitrofan Nedeline, head of Strategic Forces, and two other high-ranking officials of the Soviet space program died in the explosion, taking with them a crucial part of the knowledge of the pioneers. The R-16, designed by the bureau of Mikhail Yangel, was 30.4 meters long, 3 meters in diameter, and weighed 141 tons at launch. It burned a pair of hypergolic propellants—self-igniting substances known as asymmetric dimethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide, a mixture so toxic it was called the "devil's venom." These fuels avoided the need for heavy cryogenic systems, but they ignited instantly upon contact, without the need for a spark. The test flight had originally been scheduled for July 1961, but to meet the political deadline, safety procedures were neglected, and preparations overlapped with testing. On October 23, an incident caused wiring to melt, postponing the launch. The next day, despite the risks, preparations continued on a rocket already filled with propellants. Marshal Nedeline had his chair installed only a few dozen meters from the missile to pressure repairs, and official guests arrived to witness the launch. Around the launch pad, dozens of technicians, engineers, and officers were busy. The culprit was a program power distributor (PTR), which had been left on a wrong setting, powering the batteries connected to the second stage propellant valves. The event was described by a survivor as a sudden jet of fire that erupted without warning, covering everyone nearby. Many ran toward the perimeter, where the safety fence trapped them, and those spared by the flames inhaled toxic vapors. Yangel had gone to smoke away from the area. Among the dead were Nedeline, Lev Grichine, vice-president of the State Committee for Defense Technologies, and Colonel Alexander Nossov, head of the Baikonour launch command. The accident took away a part of the experience accumulated by Soviet pioneers. Soviet newspapers published a brief statement on October 26, claiming that Marshal Nedeline had died in an airplane accident, with no details or names of other victims. It took almost thirty years for the silence to crack. In 1989, the magazine Ogoniok published an article titled "Site 41," revealing that Nedeline died in the explosion of a ballistic missile at Tyuratam, now known as Baikonour. Other testimonies and documents followed, allowing today to reconstruct the sequence minute by minute. The exact number of deaths remains unclear, but the figure of 78 comes from the 1994 commission. The event is considered the worst accident in the history of rockets.