Hundreds honor the three Apollo 1 astronauts who were killed

The Daily Mail ^ | 26 January 2017 | ap

[mware]

Three astronauts were killed in the blaze in Cape Canaveral on January 27, 1967 

Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee were trapped in their burning craft 

A small spark created a blaze that burned hotter than 1,000°F (537°C)

[left that other site]

And then there was the time one of their huge booster rockets blew up on the launch pad and took out the whole facility.

There were rumors of others.

[mware]

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

[left that other site]

Yes. I remember hearing that.

[canuck_conservative]

Apollo 1 used a pure (100%) oxygen environment in the capsule, which was obviously a recipe for disaster. Apparently NASA thought it would give the astronauts more energy?

After the fire – which until 1986, was the only loss of life in the entire American space program – NASA changed the Apollo capsule atmosphere, mixed with nitrogen down to about 33% oxygen.

[mware]

I know the anniversary is tomorrow but weird that again I read the article in a UK paper.

[naturalman1975]

If we die we want people to accept it. We are 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

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

Quite possibly.

[Calvin Locke]

The Soviets had a cosmonaut trainee burn in an O2 environment, pre-Apollo. Maybe the first person to die in a modern space program.

He tossed an alcohol wipe towards a bin, it missed, and landed on an active hot plate. Probably should mention that he was removed sensor adhesive from his chest with the wipe.

[mware]

As they mentioned in the article. That tragedy probably saved quite a few people, definitely Apollo 13.

[RayChuang88]

I think in the end, NASA should have never flown the Block I Command Module with the astronauts aboard. They should have flown the Block I CM’s on remote flights and simulated flight conditions—and it’s likely the capsule may have experienced the fire hazard problem in space. North American Aviation had planned a lot of changes for what became the Block II capsule, but the Apollo 1 fire forced North American to make much more changes, notably removing a lot of exposed fire-prone materials, changing the hatch design to open outward, and switching to a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere when the capsule was on the ground.

[Magnatron]

We lived in Cocoa Beach then. My father worked at the Cape. I remember this very well. One of the few times I saw my father visibly shaken.

[Secret Agent Man]

yup. that and quick release door’handles.

[left that other site]

Wow...I didn’t know about that.

[mware]

The Right Stuff was a excellent movie on the early space program.

[lightman]

I was a month shy of 7 and remember it very well.

It was my first encounter with sudden death.

[mware]

Thanks for that detailed information.

[mware]

Yeah, my dad was the same way.

I think many of our fathers who heard about it had WW2 flashbacks after hearing how they died.

[ConsCA]

““I remember that day and where I was. I was 7.”

—

I remember it well also-—I was 34.:-)”

I was 9. I was such a follower of the space program and used to write NASA frequently and get responses. I was stunned when this happened.

January 28th is the date the Challenger exploded and February 1 is the date of the Columbia disaster.

[mware]

January 28th is the date the Challenger exploded and February 1 is the date of the Columbia disaster

Hindsight but you would think they could have figured out the O ring problem ahead of time.

[Bulwyf]

You’d be surprised at how many people I run into who think the landings were all a hoax.