Russia’s 30-Engine Space Monster Blew Up Like a Nuke
For decades, Americans speculated about the Soviet moon program, but no one had grasped just how close they had come to putting a man on the moon until late 1991, when suddenly the USSR collapsed.
As millions of top secret documents became public, so did the details of the N1 Rocket, a Soviet marvel of engineering designed to rival NASA’s Saturn V and perhaps even dwarf it. Where the Americans relied on five engines for their lunar ambitions, the Soviets had crammed thirty kerosene-burning, closed-cycle engines into a single launch vehicle. Thirty. The daring gamble promised to crown the Soviets in the space race.
But power like that comes at a cost. The uncovered documents told a chilling story of hubris, miscalculation, and an unprecedented catastrophe.
A single misstep turned the dream of Soviet lunar dominance into a nightmare— one that unleashed the largest non-nuclear explosion in human history. And it was captured on video…
---
Dark Footage showcases the most unbelievable photos and videos from history while telling the stories behind the camera. Featuring military, space, aircraft and real-life historic events caught on tape.