Hundreds honor the three Apollo 1 astronauts who were killed

The Daily Mail ^ | 26 January 2017 | ap

[higgmeister]

My dad always thought White would have been the first on the moon if not for that accident.

Deke Slayton, NASA's first Chief of the Astronaut Office, said it would have been Gus Grissom because he was one of the original Mercury Seven Astronaut selection.

[Calvin Locke]

I don't know about saving weight, but the 5 psi atmosphere has other advantages, they trumpeted that up to a 1/2" hole would still allow approximately 10 minutes of atmosphere so that the crew could still be able to don pressure suits, any EVAs means less atmosphere to lose in less time to equalize pressure, and the reverse on after the ingress, etc.

The Soviets were still near 15psi, even after the problems they had with their first EVA. The cosmonaut's suit expanded enough to prohibit him getting back into the capsule, and he had to severely deflate it.

I don't think they went to the advantages of the lower psi until détente, and the joint US-Soviet mission.

There are probably physiological advantages to a lower 100% atmosphere too.

[higgmeister]

Ed White was the first American to leave the capsule during the Gemini Program.

I was with my family at the George C. Marshal Space Flight Museum when the PA announced that they had just gotten in raw film of White's space walk. I was one of the first people in the country to see it that day. Dad Worked there as a GE computer programmer contracted to NASA on the Saturn 5 parts inventory. Dad's office was in one of those old Army wooden buildings next to the Headquarters building. He walked out of the door every day and could look up at Dr. Von Braun's penthouse office.

Building 4200: Historic Legacy Stands Tall

[lapsus calami]

 

 

The very first was Air Force Captain Theodore Freeman, on Halloween day, 1964. A goose was sucked into an intake of his T-38 while landing at Ellington AFB. Lost power and planted it short of the runway.

 

 

[left that other site]

Interesting thought...

[left that other site]

Silence is often the most fitting tribute.

[left that other site]

So you’re a youngster here on FR! LOL!

[left that other site]

Indeed. Those were some scary years!

[left that other site]

That is a great memory to cherish!

[Ronald_Magnus]

Apollo One Recording
Last 3 minutes
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AApollo_One_Recording.ogg