APOLLO 1(AS204)

Apollo 1 Mission - Virgil Ivan Grissom, Edward Higgins White, II and Roger Bruce Chaffee.

Apollo 1 (AS204) - January 27, 1967

Tragedy on the Launch Pad

In January of 1967, America appeared to be the leader in the race for the moon.. The public was euphoric over the success a of the Mercury and Gemini programs. The journey to the moon aboard the marvelous but untested Apollo spacecraft seemed within our grasp but in a worn piece of insulation on a wire underneath a seat in Apollo Saturn vehicle 204, there lay the seeds of a disaster which would cost the lives of three astronauts and set back the program seventeen months.

Late on the morning of January 27, 1967, Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were sealed into Spacecraft 012 for a "full dress rehearsal" with 100 per cent oxygen. Under intense political pressure, a decision had been made to skip the unmanned test. The planned program was to include every step except fueling and launch.

The test was plagued with technical difficulties from a spacecraft that had a history of problems, repairs and more repairs. Five hours into the frustrating process, the countdown was placed on hold at T-minus 10 minutes and scheduled to resume at 6:31 P.M.

Unknown to astronauts and ground controllers, the insulation had worn from a wire underneath the seat of the spacecraft commander. The wire sparked and caused the oxygen soaked materials inside the spacecraft to explode in a wall of flame. Hampered by a hatch that required ninety seconds to open, the crew was unable to escape the fire and died within seconds.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, the people of the Apollo program summoned reservoirs of strength to correct the deficiencies of the ill fated spacecraft. In an editorial "What Happened to Apollo", appearing in the August 1967 issue of Space & Aeronautics, John B. Campbell wrote:

"The fire that killed the Apollo 204 astronauts was caused by too little attention to flame propagation characteristics of materials, but it resulted in many other fixes to the hardware and the program. The cost is substantial, and tough problems of management persist, but Apollo is stronger today. "

"Yet the close view is not necessarily the most appropriate view of Apollo. The most ambitious single program ever undertaken by man, it will only be accomplished by men able to shake off the ample evidence of human imperfection and press on. In Apollo today -- at NASA, NAA and elsewhere -- there are capable, determined men who understand the job to be done. And they will do it."

A gripping description of the Apollo 204 fire can be found in the book Moon Shot, by Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton.

Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom

"If we die, we want people to accept it. We're in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life."
-Gus Grissom (John Barbour et al., Footprints on the Moon (The Associated Press, 1969), p. 125.)

Personal: Born April 3, 1926, Mitchell, Indiana. Died January 27, 1967 in the Apollo 204 fire at Cape Kennedy. Was married, two children.

Education: B.S. in mechanical engineering, Purdue University, 1950.

Spaceflights: Command pilot, Mercury-Redstone 4 (1961) and Gemini 3 (1965).

Was chosen with the first group of astronauts in 1959. Was pilot for Mercury-Redstone 4 (Liberty Bell 7), a suborbital flight, command pilot for Gemini 3, backup command pilot for Gemini 6, and had been selected as commander of the first Apollo flight at the time of his death.

Edward Higgins White, II

"I think you have to understand the feeling that a pilot has, that a test pilot has, that I look forward a great deal to making the first flight. There's a great deal of pride involved in making a first flight." -Ed White (The New York Times, January 29, 1967, p. 48.)

Personal: Born November 14, 1930, San Antonio, Texas. Died January 27, 1967 in the Apollo 204 fire at Cape Kennedy. Was married, two children.

Education: B.S., U.S. Military Academy, 1952. M.S. in aeronautical engineering, University of Michigan, 1959.

Spaceflights: Pilot, Gemini 4 (1965).
Chosen with the second group of astronauts in 1962. Was pilot of Gemini 4 (first American to make a spacewalk), backup command pilot for Gemini 7, and had been selected to be command module pilot for the first Apollo flight.

Roger Bruce Chaffee

"You'll be flying along some nights with a full moon. You're up at 45,000 feet. Up there you can see it like you can't see it down here. It's just the big, bright, clear moon. You look up there and just say to yourself: I've got to get up there. I've just got to get one of those flights."
-Roger Chaffee (The New York Times, January 29, 1967, p. 48.)

Personal: Born February 15, 1935, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Died January 27, 1967 in the Apollo 204 fire at Cape Kennedy. Was married, two children.

Education: B.S. in aeronautical engineering, Purdue University, 1957.

Spaceflights: None.