As the Saturn V heads for the launch pad, the gigantic N-1 explodes during launch at Baikonur in the USSR; it is the second launch of the gigantic rocket. The Kremlin does not make the incident public, but it is discovered by the top-secret American CORONA spy satellites in August 1969, which clearly show the ruins of the launch pad (the explosion was estimated at 0.25 kton). The news does not reach the Western press until November 1969, but the Kremlin does not even admit the existence of the N-1 program until the fall of the USSR in August 1991. Before the rocket even lifts off, a piece of steel enters one of the pumps, setting it on fire and shutting down four engines. Then a liquid oxygen pipe ruptures, shutting down a fifth engine. The computer shuts everything down at 10 seconds. The N-1 begins to fall back onto the launch pad. Incredibly, the adjacent ramp with its N-1 is unaffected by the tremendous explosion.
