Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 1 Fire
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire which took place on January 27, 1967. The fire resulted in the deaths of Apollo 1 astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. The Apollo 1 mission (which was supposed to launch on February 21, 1967) was supposed to be the next step in NASA’s goal of landing astronauts on the Moon and returning safely to Earth before the end of the 1960s. Instead the fire set back the program and it wasn’t until October 1968 when the Apollo spacecraft finally entered outer space.
The fire took place during a test to determine whether the Apollo 1 spacecraft’s power system could operate independently from any external power sources. The astronauts were wearing their full pressure suits in an atmosphere of pure oxygen. The Apollo 1 spacecraft had significant design flaws (exposed wiring and flammable materials located throughout the cabin). When the fire started the pure oxygen atmosphere caused the flames to move quickly throughout the cabin. The astronauts and the launch pad support crew could not open the hatch quickly to exit the spacecraft. The fire burned through the astronauts’ oxygen hoses thus resulting in death by asphyxiation.
The Apollo 1 resulted in a major redesign of the Apollo Command module to enhance safety. There is a memorial to the Apollo 1 astronauts at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The document featured here is a page six of an eleven page report dated January 17, 1967 from Robert C. Seamans, Jr. to NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia which summarized the history of the Gemini space program, including its accomplishments and failures. This document described the Gemini 3 and Gemini 4 missions, the first manned missions in the Gemini program, which featured Apollo 1 victims Virgil “Gus” Grissom and Ed White.
Grissom had already flown twice into space: first in the Mercury/Redstone 4 on July 21, 1961, where he became the second American to enter outer space; then, on Gemini 3 on March 23, 1965 where he and John Young conducted the first manned spaceflight of the Gemini spacecraft. If Apollo 1 had flown into space Virgil “Gus” Grissom would have become the first American to go into outer space three times aboard three separate spacecraft.
Ed White made history on the Gemini 4 spaceflight where he became the first American ever to walk in space. Apollo 1 was to be his second mission into space.
Astronaut Roger Chaffee entered the space program in 1963 and Apollo 1 was going to be his first mission into space.
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This post was written by Matthew DiBiase, Archives Specialist at the National Archives at Philadelphia.
Citation: Page 6 of Memorandum Regarding Gemini Program, with Attached Record of Accomplishments, Gemini 1967, Box 38, Project Correspondence, Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, Record Group 255-Records of NASA, National Archives at Philadelphia, PA, (NAID Identifier 1518872) (Record Entry ID: PH-6800)
