Posted on 01/28/2004 4:27:40 AM PST by Ophiucus
NASA memorialized the Apollo 1 crew -- Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee -- by dedicating the hills surrounding the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's landing site to the astronauts. The crew of Apollo 1 perished in flash fire during a launch pad test of their Apollo spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., 37 years ago today.
"Through recorded history explorers have had both the honor and responsibility of naming significant landmarks," said NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe. "Gus, Ed and Roger's contributions, as much as their sacrifice, helped make our giant leap for mankind possible. Today, as America strides towards our next giant leap, NASA and the Mars Exploration Rover team created a fitting tribute to these brave explorers and their legacy."
Hills near Spirit's landing site are named after the Apollo 1 crew. In the image above, the letter A indicates Chaffee Hill, B is Grissom Hill and C is White Hill.
Newly christened "Grissom Hill" is located 7.5 kilometers (4.7 miles) to the southwest of Spirit's position. "White Hill" is 11.2 kilometers (7 miles) northwest of its position and "Chaffee Hill" is 14.3 kilometers (8.9 miles) south-southwest of rover's position.
Lt. Colonel Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom was a U.S. Air Force test pilot when he was selected in 1959 as one of NASA's Original Seven Mercury Astronauts. On July 21, 1961, Grissom became the second American and third human in space when he piloted Liberty Bell 7 on a 15 minute sub-orbital flight. On March 23, 1965 he became the first human to make the voyage to space twice when he commanded the first manned flight of the Gemini space program, Gemini 3. Selected as commander of the first manned Apollo mission, Grissom perished along with White and Chaffee in the Apollo 1 fire. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Va.
Captain Edward White was a US Air Force test pilot when selected in 1962 as a member of the "Next Nine," NASA's second astronaut selection. On June 3, 1965, White became the first American to walk in space during the flight of Gemini 4. Selected as senior pilot for the first manned Apollo mission, White perished along with Grissom and Chaffee in the Apollo 1 fire. He is buried at his alma mater, the United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.
Selected in 1963 as a member of NASA's third astronaut class, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Roger Chaffee worked as a Gemini capsule communicator. He also researched flight control communications systems, instrumentation systems, and attitude and translation control systems for the Apollo Branch of the Astronaut office. On March 21, 1966, he was selected as pilot for the first 3-man Apollo flight. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Va.
Images of the Grissom, White and Chaffee Hills can be found at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/rover-images/jan-27-2004/captions/image-1.html
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. Additional information about the project is available from JPL at http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov and from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., at http://athena.cornell.edu .
DC Agle (818) 393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Donald Savage (202) 358-1547
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
NEWS RELEASE: 2004-40
um...no, why?
Good point. Their deaths did improve the safety measures of the entire program.
lol...it's hard to see like the one on the far right for White.
Looking through the other images...well, after looking at about 20 of the same rock, I think I found some of the same bit of horizon.
I think this might be Chaffee Hill, in the upper right, and for fun, Grissom Hill.
I don't know about spin. NASA was amazingly open about a major tragedy in a vital program and the investigation and report was not a whitewash by any means, check out the findings, very harsh.Apollo 1 report
As to why pressurized oxygen, the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo craft ran on 5psi pure oxygen while in space. This is about the same as hazard as sea level air but the one gas, oxygen, life support system was simpler and lighter than multigas systems.
Evidently, the problem was that the capsule had to be pressurized above sea level while on the ground, it wasn't built for outer pressure to be greater than inner. The astronauts breathed 100% oxygen but the capsule didn't have to be pure oxygen. Evidently during a previous test, a technician was killed and it wouldn't have happened in a pure oxygen atmosphere. In Mercury, a test capsule was taken down to 5psi without replacing the air with oxygen - so pure oxygen was used from then on. Fire hazards were controlled by eliminating ignition sources - where a breakdown occurred in Apollo 1.
The thinking changed that an ignition source would always be assumed in a capsule and containment of a fire was emphasized. Flammable materials were eliminated where possible and the atmosphere changed to 60/40 oxygen and nitrogen.
Ultimately, the fire slowed down a project under too much pressure and going too fast. Complete redesigns and a complete overhaul of procedure improved safety. The lessons were not forgotten during Apollo.
The basic reason is that at really low psi flammability is basically equal with pure oxygen or air. No extra risk with pure oxygen at 5psi. An oxygen system only was lighter and less likely to break down. It worked for Mercury and Gemini so they kept using it for Apollo.
But Mercury and Gemini didn't do the high pressure test the same way. Unfortunately, the Apollo craft also was more complex, and had manufacturing problems at the start, so more likely for something to go way wrong.
With the shuttle, that was a train wreck in progress. Craft were too old, maintained with too little money, and had too many environmentalist compromises. They did their best but too many shortcuts shaved the safety factor too close.
Getting back to the moon should put them back on track. Hopefully their deaths and the inherent risk of space exploration won't stop the program.
For the shuttle anniversary:
"If we die, we want people to accept it. We're in a risky business, and we hope if anything happens to us, it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life."
Virgil I. Grissom, Commander, Apollo 1
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