Presented With: LIFE
The Apollo space program achieved great heights—the first manned orbit of the moon, the first landing on the moon, and several more landings after that. But the first mission to carry the name Apollo ended in earthbound horror.
On January 27, 1967, during a simulation for a launch that was to take place weeks later, Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee died on January 27, 1967 burned in their cockpit. The details are grisly, and in retrospect, full of warning signs. When Grissom first entered the capsule and hooked up to his oxygen supply he detected a “sour smell.” As preparations continued, high oxygen flow triggered multiple alarms. Then a breakdown in the communications halted the countdown in the simulation.
The countdown was about to resume when a rise in the oxygen flow was detected. Four seconds later, one of the astronauts, likely Chaffee, said without particular alarm, “Fire. I smell fire.” Two seconds after that, a more insistent White announced, “Fire in the cockpit.”
With the capsule’s design, the astronauts were supposed to need a minimum 90 seconds to get out of the cockpit, but in practice the crew had always taken longer. A headrest had to be moved, and a series of latches opened. It was too much. By the time rescuers fought through the smoke and flames to reach the astronauts—braving the risk that the capsule fire could lead to a larger ignition—all three were dead. Twenty-seven men were treated for smoke inhalation, with two being hospitalized. The fire, as best could be determined, started in or near a wire bundle close to Grissom.
The manned flight was supposed to take place on February 21, 1967. After the accident, the Grissom Chaffee and White’s mission was dubbed Apollo 1. NASA flew 11 more missions in the Apollo program, concluding with Apollo 17, he manned lunar landing, in December of 1972. The three who died in that first Apollo mission underlined the bravery required for the undertaking.
The crews for the first and second Apollo missions reviewed plans at a private home in the Hollywood hills. Photo by Ralph Morse.
The crew posed in Cape Kennedy, one wee before the fatal fire. Photo by Ralph Morse.
Escaping from the capsule would have required opening a series of latches and taken a minimum of 90 seconds.
The fire in the capsule interior is thought to have started in or near a wire bundle.
The funeral for the astronauts took place on January 31, 1967 at Arlington National Ceremony. Photo by Paul Schutzer.
At the funeral President Lyndon B. Johnson spoke to Gus Grissom’s mother, Cecile. Photo by Paul Conklin.
