NASA'S FIRST TRAGEDY: A FIRE IN THE COCKPIT
Cape Kennedy (JFK+50) On January 27, 1967, NASA experienced its first tragedy. At 6:31 p.m. Eastern time, a sudden fire blazed through the Command Service Module of Apollo I as a pre-launch test was underway. Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee perished.
Apollo I was to have been the first manned flight of the Command/Service Module, but the fire and death of the astronauts put a stop to manned space flights for more than a year and a half. Weitering writes that NASA learned from these mistakes and made future space crafts much safer.**
*Joseph Francis Shea (1925-1999) was born in New York & earned his PhD at the University of Michigan in 1955. JFS was hired by NASA in 1961. As a result of the Apollo I fire & subsequent investigation he left NASA & later was employed by Raytehon of Lexington, MA. JFS also was a professor at MIT.
SOURCE
"50th Anniversary of Apollo I Fire: What NASA Learned from the Tragic Accident," by Hanneke Weitering, January 27, 2017, www.space.com/
Cape Kennedy (JFK+50) On January 27, 1967, NASA experienced its first tragedy. At 6:31 p.m. Eastern time, a sudden fire blazed through the Command Service Module of Apollo I as a pre-launch test was underway. Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee perished.
According to Hanneke Weitering of Space.com, "the crew spent the entire afternoon sitting inside the space capsule" waiting for various problems to be addressed. One problem was with communication. Gus Grissom at one point shouted..."How are we going to get to the moon if we can't talk between two or three buildings?"
The sudden fire caused the air pressure inside the cabin to rise so quickly that the hatch could not be opened. A later investigation showed that an electrical spark in the CSM ignited nylon material and the pure oxygen atmosphere.
The astronauts themselves had reservations about the safety of their spacecraft. They posed for a photograph (see below) in a praying position with the caption..."It isn't that we don't trust you, Joe, but this time we've decided to go over your head." (Joe was Apollo spacecraft program manager, Joseph F. Shea.*)
Apollo I was to have been the first manned flight of the Command/Service Module, but the fire and death of the astronauts put a stop to manned space flights for more than a year and a half. Weitering writes that NASA learned from these mistakes and made future space crafts much safer.**
*Joseph Francis Shea (1925-1999) was born in New York & earned his PhD at the University of Michigan in 1955. JFS was hired by NASA in 1961. As a result of the Apollo I fire & subsequent investigation he left NASA & later was employed by Raytehon of Lexington, MA. JFS also was a professor at MIT.
**Corrections were made as a result of the tragedy. The highly flammable pure oxygen was replaced by a mix of oxygen & nitrogen and flame retardant materials were required.
SOURCE
"50th Anniversary of Apollo I Fire: What NASA Learned from the Tragic Accident," by Hanneke Weitering, January 27, 2017, www.space.com/
Ed White, Gus Grissom & Roger Chaffee
April 1, 1966
NASA Photo
Apollo I Fire Damage
January 28, 1967
NASA Photo
