1967 Apollo 1 fire kills astronauts Grissom, White & Chaffee

Apolo 1.org ^

[Steely Tom]

12 mils = 0.012".

I believe this is about the same thickness as the aluminum in one of those big disposable pans used for broiling a turkey.

Cogitate on that!

(steely)

[dead]

Thanks, I never read that before.

It doesn't make the decision seem any less boneheaded, in light of what happened, but at least I now know what the reasoning was, however flawed.

[Kelly_2000]

God Bless those pioneers and fearless men and women of the space program, who gave up their lives but pushed the envelope, and took mankind beyond the stars because they had the "right stuff"........

Heroes everyone of them and the men that tried to save the Apollo 1 crew.

[ssaftler]

The ground guy in charge of Apollo 13, Gene Kranz, has written a great book called "Failure is not an Option", which was also a special on PBS about a year ago. (I think it's out on DVD now) Although the book is mainly about the Apollo 13 mission (hence the name), Kranz talks about much of NASA history of the 50s and 60s.

[lunarbicep]

ping

[RadioAstronomer]

Sad event ping.

[El Gran Salseron]

"What made them think to use it?" ( oxygen )

I think it was probably a hold-over from the fact that military aircraft pilots always use/used pure oxygen.

[RadioAstronomer]

Don't know. I'd LOVE to see one. I've got a buddy who used to work there (as a janitor), he saw a couple of launches, said it is the most AMAZING thing he ever saw.

I used to stand on top of SAEF-II to watch the launches when I worked at the Cape. I hope one day you can be down there for a launch!

[El Gran Salseron]

"When is the shuttle supposed to fly again?"

May, unless it has been postponed.

[Jakarta ex-pat]

I'll try to get hold of a copy.

THX.

The Portrayal of Kranz by Ed Harris in the movie was one of many highlights.

[Ready4Freddy]

I too remember this well. Was in 10th grade in SW Houston when it happened. Ed White and his family had lived in our neighborhood, as did many of the steely-eyed misslemen before they moved down to Clear Lake area.

In 4th grade (1962) Ed White drove us to school on his son Eddie's carpool days when he was in town. We thought it was WAY cool to have a astronaut drive us to school, even tho he wasn't a REAL astronaut to us then cuz he wasn't one of the 7. :)

Watched Ed White's first American EVA in the White living room.

[El Gran Salseron]

It was indeed a sad day.

However, Gus Grissom had been involved in a couple of other problem incidents. If I remember correctly, one in the Mercury program and another in the Apollo program.

Some say he was an incompetent fool.

Maybe he was just unlucky.

I don't know the answer. I report, you decide. :-)

[null and void]

It wouldn't have happened in space. Two main reasons:

Without gravity, there are no convection currents to carry away combustion products and bring fresh oxygen to the fire. Fires snuff themselves out.

The partial pressure of oxygen is much lower. The Apollo capsule was overpressured with pure oxygen to simulate the stress loading of space flight. If they had used air the fire would have burned much more slowly and the crew would have probably survived. (OTOH they'd have to decompress after every test to avoid the bends).

That being said, the contractor had to really clean up their cat after the charred remains were inspected. NASA found lots of construction debris, bits of wire, loose nuts and bolts, tools, and even a lost sack lunch...

[AmericanInTokyo]

One can only hope they passed out from asphyxiation, before the actual flames could have caused them immense physical pain.

The terror would have been something, too. With the cabin as small as it was, one can only imagine the physical pain from the flames. I don't ever want to go that way.

[DJtex]

what struck me was the Mercury rockets...

Exactly! I was driving by the Kennedy Space Center just three days ago and saw how small the Mercury rocket looked. It was a really, really gutsy thing for an astronaut to sit on top of that roman candle.

They knew the risks, as have all the astronauts since. Somehow, NASA's meticulous systems planning (another major "invention" of the space program) was viewed as goof-proof, since we had such long strings of successes. It's still an extremely complex undertaking with thousands of areas of discrete risk. It's a testament to human will and intellect that these things are successful more than 50% of the time.

[IN Farm Girl]

Purdue Boilermakers fondly remember their fellow alumni:

Virgil "Gus" Grissom (BS, mechanical engineering, 1950)
Roger Chaffee (BS, aeronautical engineering, 1957)

RIP.

[BluH2o]

One of those moments you remember when you first heard the news. In my case I was a young Marine participating in a field exercise on the island of Vieques,P.R.. When I told the staff sergeant (E-6) in charge of our fire direction control unit he got tears in his eyes. Never much liked the guy up to that moment, after that, I came to the conclusion he wasn't such a bad guy after all.

[ErnBatavia]

When is the shuttle supposed to fly again?

http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/schedule/schedule.htm

[null and void]

how big is 12 mils?

Not very. My kitchen aluminum foil is 1/2 a mil, a dime is 50 mils, 5 pieces of newsprint is about 12 mils.

Scarey thin...

[Ready4Freddy]

I agree, the difference between the Redstone / Atlas and Saturn V rockets is amazing. The Museum at NASA, next door to the NASA complex on NASA Road 1 but run by a private foundation, is a great place to see those, as well as lots of cool stuff from the early programs.