The Stars My Destination: The Apollo 1 Disaster

Operation AXIOM: Destination Moon—The 56th Anniversary of Apollo 1
Fifty-six 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 in the cockpit of their Command Module capsule, atop its Saturn IB rocket at Cape Kennedy's Launch Complex 34 for a launch rehearsal test.

The fire, almost certainly electrical though the precise source of ignition was never identified, was exacerbated by the many highly-flammable materials within the Command Module, as well as the high-pressure, pure-oxygen atmosphere. The high atmospheric pressure—which increased further due to the fire—also prevented the astronauts from opening their Block I Command Module's complex, inward-opening hatch, a fatal design flaw that was subsequently corrected on all subsequent Block II Command Modules.

Grissom was one of the "Mercury Seven," Astronaut Group 1, & the second American to fly in space; his two spaceflights were Mercury-Redstone 4 (the suborbital flight of the Liberty Bell 7) & Gemini 3 (the orbital flight of the Molly Brown, the only named Gemini capsule).

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

Chaffee, a native Michigander, was one of "The Fourteen," 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-six years ago today.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: 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 '22 | Wayback Machine '21
Wayback Machine '20 | Wayback Machine '19
Wayback Machine '18 | Wayback Machine '17
"The Explorers' Club," No. XXXV (2007)

“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.”
—Gus Grissom