1967: Three astronauts die in Apollo 1 tragedy [RIP 47 years ago today]

BBC ^ | January 27th, 1967 | Various staff

[Ready4Freddy]

1967: Three astronauts die in Apollo 1 tragedy

Three American astronauts have died after fire swept through the Apollo spacecraft designed for a manned flight to the Moon during rehearsals at Cape Kennedy.

It is thought an electrical spark started in the area holding oxygen supplies and other support systems. The fire spread quickly in the oxygen-filled atmosphere of the capsule, killing the crew within seconds.

The space crew, flight commander Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee, were taking part in a test run for the launch of the first Apollo mission.

Navy Lieutenant Commander Chaffee, aged 31, had never flown in space before. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Grissom, 39, was the first American to make two flights. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel White, 35, made America's first space walk.

[writer33]

Thanks for posting. You almost forget that happened.

[JRandomFreeper]

God bless the men that fly and fight.

/johnny

[SpinnerWebb]

Notice it’s from the BBC. The DRM wouldn’t run such a story on true American heroes.

[knarf]

America used to smell good ...

[skeeter]

These guys were a breed apart.

Its sad to see how far we as a people have fallen.

[Mr. K]

I can’t believe someone thought it was a good idea to use pure oxygen...

[dfwgator]

High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,

I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

[safeasthebanks]

The HBO series "From the Earth to the Moon" did an excellent job on the episode covering this tragedy.

Way too much pure oxygen in that capsule was the main problem if I remember correctly.

[Tigerized]

We were a different country back then. This tragedy was considered a minor setback, and the race to the moon continued.

Today, we don’t even have similar programs. NASA has been “retasked” as they say.

I’d like to believe Americans still have a pair. But the evidence is mighty thin...

[JRandomFreeper]

At 15 PSI.

/johnny

[RayChuang88]

The biggest problem was all the exposed combustible materials inside the Apollo capsule, which really worried the astronauts even well before the Apollo 1 fire. North American Aviation should have flown an unmanned mission with the then-production capsule in early 1967 to check out systems in space before Apollo 1 flew—and it’s likely they would have identified the combustible material problem early on.

[Nextrush]

I turned on the color TV set in the living room to watch the prime time entertainment, they were new back then, but instead saw a special report on the tragedy.

Its the first big news event I remember watching on television.

[Da Coyote]

“I can’t believe someone thought it was a good idea to use pure oxygen...”

Agree. I would not have guessed that early Microsoft engineers were on the program. /s

It did result in a complete redesign of the capsule air system, however.

[chimera]

I think the idea was to purge nitrogen from the bloodstream so there would not be adverse effects from unplanned pressure changes. Cabin pressure is lowered to 5 psi during ascent which causes nitrogen to come out of solution. In hindsight it would have been better to use an air-like mixture during launch and ascent with gradual replacement with pure oxygen as the mission progressed.

[virgil]

I have vague memories of it. I remember a camera view of the rocket with smoke coming out of the top.

[chimera]

The higher pre-launch pressure was to prevent ingress of nitrogen from the outside if there was any leakage. Its a good (and tragic) example of the designers being “locked in” on one problem (keeping nitrogen out of the bloodstream) and thereby overlooking or minimizing the downside risks.

[dfwgator]

The DRM wouldn’t run such a story on true American heroes.

Because there was a Rat in the White House at the time....You can bet if it happened on Nixon's watch, they would have been all over it, blaming the Republicans.

[Timber Rattler]

The Soviets had learned that same lesson six years before...

Valentin Bondarenko

[laplata]

I don’t think the capsule wan on a rocket.