Jan 27 1967 Apollo 1 Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White II, Roger B. Chafee Die

[Valin]

Space.com

The Apollo 1 crew, from left to right, Roger Chaffee, Ed White and Gus Grissom. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

The Apollo program changed forever on Jan. 27, 1967, when a flash fire swept through the Apollo 1 command module during a launch rehearsal test. The three men inside perished despite the best efforts of the ground crew. It would take more than 18 months, and extensive redesigns, before NASA sent more men into space.

 

NASA had a lofty goal, set by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, to land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth by the end of the decade. Earlier Mercury and Gemini flights had been the first steps toward that goal. Now the Apollo missions would take humanity even further. The first manned mission was originally designated Apollo Saturn-204, or AS-204, but was later renamed Apollo 1.

 

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Decades later, NASA recalls the Apollo 1 incident every January in an annual Day of Remembrance. It also honors the Challenger and Columbia crews, who died in 1986 and 2003, respectively.

 

While spaceflight is a hard business, NASA acknowledged what happened to the Apollo 1 crew could have been remedied before a tragedy ever occurred. It serves as a tough lesson for spacefarers to remember.

[Valin]