The Stars My Destination: The Apollo 1 Disaster

Operation AXIOM: Destination Moon—The 54th Anniversary of Apollo 1
Fifty-four years ago to the day, 27 January 1967, the crew of the first manned Apollo mission, AS-204, retroactively named Apollo 1—Command Pilot Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Senior Pilot Edward H. "Ed" White II, & Pilot Roger B. Chaffee—perished in a fire within their Command Module capsule, atop its Saturn IB rocket at Cape Kennedy's 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 Command 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 & the second American to fly in space; his two successful spaceflights were Mercury-Redstone 4 (the suborbital flight of the Liberty Bell 7) & Gemini 3 (commanding the Molly Brown, the only named Gemini capsule).

White, a University of Michigan alumnus, was among the "New Nine," Astronaut Group 2; his successful spaceflight was Gemini 4, during which he became the first American & second human to conduct an Extravehicular Activity (E.V.A.), or "spacewalk."

Chaffee, a native Michigander, was selected in Astronaut Group 3; Apollo 1 was to be his first spaceflight.

The crew of Apollo 1 died in a catastrophic fire during a ground test that had not been considered hazardous, 27 January 1967, fifty-four years ago today.

Command Pilot Gus Grissom (1926-1967), in a press conference prior to the disaster:

“If we die, we want people to accept it. We’re in a risky business, & we hope if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk life. Our God-given curiosity will force us to go there ourselves, because in the final analysis only man can fully evaluate the Moon in terms understandable to other men.”

Bonus! Song o' the Apollo 1 Disaster
Public Service Broadcasting, "Fire in the Cockpit" from The Race for Space (Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Wayback Machine Tour of the Apollo 1 Disaster
Wayback Machine '20
Wayback Machine '19
Wayback Machine '18
Wayback Machine '17
"The Explorers' Club," No. XXXV (2007)