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Apollo 1
Edward
White, Command Pilot Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Comander Roger Chaffee,
Pilot
27 January 1967
Tragic Loss of Three Apollo Astronauts
One of the worst tragedies in the
history of spaceflight occurred on January 27, 1967 when the crew of Gus
Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were killed in a fire in the Apollo Command
Module during a preflight test at Cape Canaveral. They were training for the
first crewed Apollo flight, an Earth orbiting mission scheduled to be launched
on 21 February. They were taking part in a "plugs-out" test, in which
the Command Module was mounted on the Saturn 1B on the launch pad just as it
would be for the actual launch, but the Saturn 1B was not fueled. The plan was
to go through an entire countdown sequence.
Chaffee,
White and Grissom
At 1 p.m. on Friday, 27 January
1967 the astronauts entered the capsule on Pad 34 to begin the test. A number of
minor problems cropped up which delayed the test considerably and finally a
failure in communications forced a hold in the count at 5:40 p.m. At 6:31 one of
the astronauts (probably Chaffee) reported, "Fire, I smell fire." Two
seconds later White was heard to say, "Fire in the cockpit." The fire
spread throughout the cabin in a matter of seconds. The last crew communication
ended 17 seconds after the start of the fire, followed by loss of all telemetry.
The Apollo hatch could only open inward and was held closed by a number of
latches which had to be operated by ratchets. It was also held closed by the
interior pressure, which was higher than outside atmospheric pressure and
required venting of the command module before the hatch could be opened. It took
at least 90 seconds to get the hatch open under ideal conditions. Because the
cabin had been filled with a pure oxygen atmosphere at normal pressure for the
test and there had been many hours for the oxygen to permeate all the material
in the cabin, the fire spread rapidly and the astronauts had no chance to get
the hatch open. Nearby technicians tried to get to the hatch but were repeatedly
driven back by the heat and smoke. By the time they succeeded in getting the
hatch open roughly 5 minutes after the fire started the astronauts had already
perished, probably within the first 30 seconds, due to smoke inhalation and
burns.
The Apollo program was put on
hold while an exhaustive investigation was made of the accident. It was
concluded that the most likely cause was a spark from a short circuit in a
bundle of wires that ran to the left and just in front of Grissom's seat. The
large amount of flammable material in the cabin in the oxygen environment
allowed the fire to start and spread quickly. A number of changes were
instigated in the program over the next year and a half, including designing a
new hatch which opened outward and could be operated quickly, removing much of
the flammable material and replacing it with self-extinguishing components,
using a nitrogen-oxygen mixture at launch, and recording all changes and
overseeing all modifications to the spacecraft design more rigorously.
Interior
Of Command Capsule After The Fire
The mission, originally
designated Apollo 204 but commonly referred to as Apollo 1, was officially
assigned the name "Apollo 1" in honor of Grissom, White, and Chaffee.
The first Saturn V launch (uncrewed) in November 1967 was designated Apollo 4
(no missions were ever designated Apollo 2 or 3). The Apollo 1 Command Module
capsule 012 was impounded and studied after the accident and was then locked
away in a storage facility at NASA Langley Research Center. The changes made to
the Apollo Command Module as a result of the tragedy resulted in a highly
reliable craft which, with the exception of Apollo 13, helped make the complex
and dangerous trip to the Moon almost commonplace. The eventual success of the
Apollo program is a tribute to Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee, three
fine astronauts whose tragic loss was not in vain.
VIRGIL I. GRISSOM
(LIEUTENANT COLONEL, USAF)
NASA ASTRONAUT (DECEASED)
PERSONAL DATA:
Born April 3, 1926, in Mitchell., Indiana. Died January 27, 1967, at NASA
Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in the Apollo spacecraft fire. He is survived by
his wife Betty and their two children.
EDUCATION:
Graduated from Mitchell High School; received a Bachelor of Science degree in
Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University.
ORGANIZATIONS:
Member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.
AWARDS:
Posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
SPECIAL HONORS:
Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with cluster for his Korean
service, two NASA Distinguished Service medals and the NASA Exceptional Service
Medal; the Air Force Command Astronaut Wings.
EXPERIENCE:
Grissom, an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, received his wings in March 1951. He
flew 100 combat missions in Korea in F-86s with the 334th Fighter Interceptor
Squadron and, upon returning to the United States in 1952, became a jet
instructor at Bryan, Texas.
In August 1955, he
entered the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio, to study Aeronautical Engineering. He attended the Test Pilot School
at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in October 1956 and returned to
Wright-Patterson in May 1957 as a test pilot assigned to the fighter branch.
He has logged 4,600 hours
flying time - 3,500 hours in jet aircraft.
NASA EXPERIENCE:
Grissom was one of the seven Mercury astronauts selected by NASA in April 1959.
He piloted the "Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft -- the second and final suborbital
Mercury test flight -- on July 21, 1961. This flight lasted 15 minutes and
37seconds, attained an altitude of 118 statute miles, and traveled 302 miles
downrange from the launch pad at Cape Kennedy.
On March 23, 1965, he
served as command pilot on the first manned Gemini flight, A 3-orbit mission
during which the crew accomplished the first orbital trajectory modifications
and the first lifting reentry of a manned spacecraft. Subsequent to this
assignment, he served as backup command pilot for Gemini 6.
Grissom was named to
serve as command pilot for the AS-204 mission, the first 3-man Apollo flight
Lieutenant Colonel
Grissom died on January 27, 1967, in the Apollo spacecraft flash fire during a
launch pad test at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
EDWARD H. WHITE, II
(LIEUTENANT COLONEL)
NASA ASTRONAUT (DECEASED)
PERSONAL DATA: Born
in San Antonio, Texas, on November 14, 1930. Died January 27, 1967, at NASA
Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in the Apollo spacecraft fire. He is survived by
his wife Patricia and their two children.
EDUCATION: Bachelor
of Science degree from United States Military Academy; Master of Science degree
in Aeronautical Engineering, University of Michigan.
ORGANIZATIONS: Associate
member of Institute of Aerospace Sciences; Member of Sigma Delta Psi, athletic
honorary; and Member of Tau Beta Pi, engineering honorary.
AWARDS: Posthumously
awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
SPECIAL HONORS: Golden
Plate Award; Honorary Doctorate degree in Astronautics, University of Michigan;
NASA Exceptional Service Medal and Senior Astronaut Wings; Medalha Bandeirantes
va Cosmonautica; Firefly Club Award; Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for
1965; Five Outstanding Young Texans for 1965; The John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Trophy; Aerospace Primus Club; 1966 Achievement Award, National Aviation Club;
General Thomas White Award.
EXPERIENCE: White,
an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, received flight training in Florida and Texas,
following his graduation from West Point. He then spent 3-1/2 years in Germany
with a fighter squadron, flying F-86's and F-100's.
He attended the Air Force
Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in 1959.
White was later assigned
to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, as an experimental test pilot with the
Aeronautical Systems Division. In this assignment he made flight tests for
research and weapons systems development, wrote technical engineering reports,
and made recommendations for improvement in aircraft design and construction.
He logged more than 3,000
hours flying time, including more than 2,200 hours in jet aircraft.
NASA EXPERIENCE: White
was named as a member of the astronaut team selected by NASA in September 1962.
He was pilot for Gemini 4, which was a 66-revolution, 4-day mission that began
on June 3, and ended on June 7, 1965. During the third revolution, he carried
out the first extra vehicular activity in the United States manned space flight
program. He was outside Gemini 4 for 21 minutes, and became the first man to
control himself in space during EVA with a maneuvering unit. Other highlights of
the mission included cabin depressurization, opening of cabin doors, and 12
scientific and medical experiments. He received the NASA Exceptional Service
Medal and the U.S. Air Force Senior Astronaut Wings for this Flight. On March
21, 1966, he was named as one of the pilots of the AS-204 mission, the first
3-man Apollo flight.
Lieutenant Colonel White
died on January 27, 1967, in the Apollo spacecraft flash fire during a launch
pad test at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
ROGER B. CHAFFEE
(LIEUTENANT COMMANDER, USN)
NASA ASTRONAUT (DECEASED)
PERSONAL DATA:
Born February 15, 1935 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Died January 27, 1967, at NASA
Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in the Apollo spacecraft fire. He is survived by
his wife Martha and two children.
EDUCATION: Chaffee
graduated from Central High School, Grand Rapids, Michigan. He received a
Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering, Purdue University in
1957.
ORGANIZATIONS:
Member, Tau Beta Pi, National Engineering Society, Sigma Gamma Tau, and Phi
Kappa Sigma.
AWARDS:
Posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
SPECIAL HONORS:
Awarded the United States Navy Air Medal.
EXPERIENCE:
Chaffee, a United States Navy Lieutenant Commander, entered the Navy in 1957.
He served as safety
officer and quality control officer for Heavy Photographic Squadron 62 at the
Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida.
In January 1963, he
entered the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio, to work on a Master of Science Degree in Reliability Engineering.
He logged more than 2,300
hours flying time, including more than 2,000 hours in jet aircraft.
NASA EXPERIENCE:
Chaffee was one of the third group of astronauts selected by NASA in October
1963. In addition to participating in the overall training program, he was also
tasked with working on flight control communications systems, instrumentation
systems, and attitude and translation control systems in the Apollo Branch of
the Astronaut office. On March 21, 1966, he was selected as one of the pilots
for the AS-204 mission, the first 3-man Apollo flight.
Lieutenant Commander
Chaffee died on January 27, 1967, in the Apollo spacecraft flash fire during a
launch pad test at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
Credit:NASA
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