Fifty-two years ago to the day, 27 January 1967, the crew of the first manned Apollo mission, Apollo 1—Command Pilot Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, the second American to fly in space; Senior Pilot Edward H. "Ed" White II, the first American to conduct an Extravehicular Activity (E.V.A.) "spacewalk;" & Pilot Roger B. Chaffee, preparing for his first spaceflight—perished in a fire within their Command Module capsule, atop its Saturn IB rocket at Cape Kennedy's (as Cape Canaveral was then known) Launch Complex 34 for a launch rehearsal test. The fire, electrical in nature, was exacerbated by the many highly-flammable materials within the Command Module, as well as the Module's high-pressure, pure-oxygen atmosphere. The high atmospheric pressure also prevented the astronauts from evacuating their swiftly immolating craft, a fatal design flaw that was subsequently corrected on all subsequent Apollo Command Modules.
Grissom was one of the original "Mercury Seven" astronauts; his two successful spaceflights were Mercury-Redstone 4 (the Liberty Bell 7, which sank during recovery) & Gemini 3 (commanding the Molly Brown, the only named Gemini capsule—so named as a response to the sinking of the Liberty Bell 7). White, a University of Michigan alumnus, was among the "New Nine," Astronaut Group 2, & had previously flown aboard Gemini 4, spacewalking. Chaffee, a native Michigander, was selected in Astronaut Group 3, four of whom walked on the Moon.
The crew of Apollo 1 died in a catastrophic fire during a ground test that had not been considered hazardous, 27 January 1967, fifty-two years ago today.
The Wayback Machine Tour of the Apollo 1 Disaster
Wayback Machine '18
Wayback Machine '17
"The Explorers' Club," No. XXXV (2007)
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