Now the Apollo missions would take astronauts all the way to the moon for orbital missions and landing missions. They are now in the archives, but they were originally stored in the sealed storage facility, as were all of the photos and findings. It would be nice, in my opinion, to get the first manned Apollo ship out of Langley's storage and somehow display the craft in the most delicate, tasteful, and appropriate means that could make everyone happy. I'm sure that it joined other hulks of previous craft used in previous testing and was scrapped there. Oh well, this debate will probably be going on always hopefully someday there can be a better, respectful, and permanent "home" for America's first three-man spacecraft. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). We're burning up!'" Immediately after the Apollo 1 fire, to avoid appearance of a conflict of interest, NASA Administrator James E. Webb asked President Lyndon B. Johnson to allow NASA to handle the investigation according to its established procedure, promising to be truthful in assessing blame, and to keep the appropriate leaders of Congress informed. However, I do find myself doubting that the hoses acted as blow torches, as it appears from photos that the hoses were largely un-burned. The Mercury and Gemini onboard original film is at College Park. Another voice canbe heard saying "Ive" or "weve," followed by "got a fire in the cockpit". They were used to seeing machines under development and dealing with delays, and assessing the airplanes' readiness for flight. NSFW Remains of astronaut Gus Grissom after the Apollo 1 disaster - The whole crew is burned alive during a training rehearsal. Looking at /u/apfpilots photo of the Apollo 1 suits, I think theyre very possibly of the same design but would be consistent with other designs as well. However, because a pure oxygen atmosphere had worked without incident for the Mercury and Gemini capsules, NASA decided it would be safe to press ahead with the same for the larger Apollo capsule. He was chosen was among NASA's first group of seven astronauts, the Mercury Seven. As for the black channel tapes, you are correct. His suit is also the most damaged. Yeah now that you mention it it seems unlikely that NASA would take pics with the corpses still inside. If it is not included with the outer shell then eventually the pressure shell will be disposed of in some manner, thus it will be lost. If the fire hadn't happened when it did, where it did, these dangerous design flaws may have gone unnoticed until it was too late, and we may have sent astronauts into orbitor worse, to the moondoomed to their deaths. The next transmission comes through as a muffled"I'm getting out" before screams can be heard. Back in 1996, we gained permission from Dan Golden for its' release, but friction between the concerned parties has prevented its' release. In 1965, he made the leap from Martin to NASA, where he spent the rest of his career. As a boy, Henry would pick cotton or sell boiled peanuts at baseball games to help make ends meet. I don't believe that it would have been scrapped at KSC because of the materials involved. During 1966, NASA flew five Gemini missions. I will be back there in the fall, and I'm going to request the file myself just to see if they are actually in there or whether they are still restricted, as I really hope they are. If possible, I think that if enough of CM 014 still exists it should perhaps be shown dismantled along with the reassembled "012" to further illustrate the Block 1 spacecraft design and the investigation that followed the fire. As he surveyed the capsule that Grissom, White, and Chaffee were to fly in, Young saw a seemingly endless amount of short circuits. Of course such a display would require even more money and more space. To understand the whirlwind in which NASA existed in the mid-1960s, consider that Gordon Cooper flew the final Mercury mission in May 1963. NY 10036. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 1/1/20) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 1/1/20) and Ars Technica Addendum (effective 8/21/2018). But we didnt expect it to be on the ground.. A pure oxygen atmosphere was one option, as it required a lighter environmental control system to produce than a more complex mix of nitrogen and oxygen. In August 1966, the Apollo 1 crew expressed their concerns about their spacecraft's problems by taking this "prayer" photo and then giving it to Joe Shea, manager of the Apollo Program office. Should we be surprised that it appears the Air Force either chose not to mention or simply overlooked the gash in its official autopsy report on Chaffee? Read more: Seeing Earth from Space Is the Key to Saving Our Species from Itself. Apollo Spacecraft 12 Command/Service Module is moved from H-134 to east stokes for mating to the Saturn Lunar Module Adapter No. APOLLO 204. REVIEW BOARD. As each part was removed from 014, the engineers wrote the procedures so that each part of 012 was removed in proper sequence, listing removal torques for the bolts, screws, tubing "B" nuts and electrical connections. Amazingly, this was NASAs third new spacecraft in just five years. I've heard it has been released in its entirety before, but I had never heard it all before. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. I don't know if that was intended, but it's there. I was shocked at the condition of LC-34. We never really had any doubts. Decades later, NASA recalls the Apollo 1 incident every January in an annualDay of Remembrance. Posts: 43576From: Houston, TXRegistered: Nov 1999. The astronauts had struggled in vain to open the door during the fire, but the pressure inside the spacecraft sealed the door and made it impossible to open. Posts: 1376From: ridgefield, ctRegistered: May 2002. Apollo 1 Crew NASA On Jan. 27, 1967, NASA experienced its first space disaster - the deaths of three astronauts during a training excercise for the Apollo 1 mission. Space is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. First it would be displayed where the accident happened, secondly it would be out of reach of collectors with sticky fingers, and thirdly it would rid Langley of the burden while in reality it would still be stored, only at KSC. They are individually placed in green "Army" type canvas bags, then individually placed in their own wooden crate. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Astronauts for the first Apollo Mission (L-R) Roger B. Chaffee, Edward H. White and Virgil I. Grissom practice for the mission in the Apollo Mission Simulator. I assume that since you said you didn't have a wish to view them that you had not seen these particular photos. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and (soon) a Bachelor of History from Athabasca University. I think that when Cernan described what they found, it was to counteract a news release issued shortly after the fire from an unidentifiable source by a newspaper that said the astronauts had been completely burned up. This is one thing, of all my years of reading and studying, I have never heard anything about. During this time, the workers in the control room were stunned, listening to the astronaut's distraught communications and helpless to do anything. Clearly, the least expensive and most practical way to display Apollo 1 is as Rick suggested, though in my opinion it is not necessarily the best way. Physicians addedthat the crew died from smoke inhalation and almost certainly fell unconscious. Well it's hard to really hard to distinguish anything in those pics. Happier days: in June 1966, the Apollo 1 crew practices water egress procedures with a full scale boilerplate model of the spacecraft. And in 1971, the crew of Apollo 15 secretly carried a small statue of a fallen astronaut, and a plaque, to the lunar surface. I'll have to accept the opinion of those that removed the bodies later as to what they found. I feel that the Apollo 1 capsule (or what is left of it) could and should be tastefully displayed. Grissom and his crew were gambling that the growing list of problems with the spacecraft would somehow be fixed in time for the February launch.. A community for asking whether programs, products, or services are legitimate. The skull on the right-hand suit is actually an effect created by reflected light on the helmet, and I dont see any bones. All we felt was heat and ashes.". "I heard them scream get me out of here. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. The fire forced a hard reset of a space program that had been rushing headlong toward the Moon, but had lost its way due to overconfidence. The first of three sons, my dad, was born in December 1946. And I heard a couple months ago that the Langley storage had being cleaned out, and everything shipped down to the Cape to be stored with the Challenger debris in the LC34 silos? Henry Rogers, with wife Doreen and sons Randy and Tim (in arms), circa 1951. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). The Apollo spacecraft Command Module for the AS-204 mission is shown during preparation for installation of the crew compartment heat shield. One idea that we were kicking around was displaying it out at launch complex #34 directly below the opening of the launch pedestal below ground level in the equipment room. Needless to say they were just as upset with NASA as I was. USARegistered: Jul 2007. Also, the center and left-hand suits, while obviously fire-damaged, are in better condition than I would expect the Apollo suits to be in given the descriptions provided of what happened to the astronauts. It seems to pop up more often on forums or amateur-ish websites. Fellow astronauts (left to right) Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Gordon Cooper, and John Young serve as escorts. Posts: 802From: Columbus, OH USARegistered: Jun 2002. Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! The hatch was closed at about 2:42pm andat6:30:54pm a volt anomaly was recorded. As for tastefully displaying Apollo 1, it won't happen anytime soon as the three families are in disagreement on that issue. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. By the time Rogers stepped out into the white roomthe area of the shuttle tower that connects with the cabinflames were erupting and black smoke filled the room. When the Command Module had been adequately ventilated, the doctors returned to the White Room with equipment for crew removal. He hung it on the flight simulator after he arrived at the Cape. That doesn't tell us where these pics came from tho. Shouting through the noise, Grissom vented: "How are we going to get to the moon if we can't talk between two or three buildings? "I heard them scream that they were on fire. But while doing ground tests, it proved disastrous to put astronauts into a capsule of pure, pressurized oxygen. When it was all over, spacecraft 014 was just a pile of parts, with the main shell intact. Other times he went to school barefoot. And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. The Apollo original film is still in Houston. There has been renewed interest since the loss of Columbia by several parties to exhibit part or whole of the command module but as with most things in life the most limiting factor has been the lack of funds. This blocked about half of the hatch opening, restricting our entry into the craft until we could get the hatch to finish falling. The crew of Apollo 1: Veteran astronaut Gus Grissom (left), first American spacewalker Ed White, and rookie Roger Chaffee. But the space race with the USSR, combined with Kennedy's public goal of a moon landing, created a growing sense of urgency to advance the Apollo program at a breakneck pace. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. This would serve several purposes. By the way, Stephen Clemmons if you are reading this please explain what "scrapped" means in regard to CM 014, the spacecraft dismantled during the Apollo 1 fire investigation. With only a third of the cabin pressure as Earth, normal airwhich is about 78 percent nitrogen and 20 percent oxygenwouldn't be capable of sustaining life while in orbit. Those are not available to researchers. These records and items need to be preserved for history. To display the capsule would help present and future generations be able to see and understand the sacrifices that were made with the Apollo 1 tragedy and what was learned to prevent it from happening again. Chaffee (left), White, and Grissom inside the mission simulator. Yet even amid this hectic schedule, engineers with the agency confidently conducted final design reviews on the Apollo capsule. Edit: forgot to reread, changed a few words. It was even discussed years/decades ago about the possibility of placing Apollo 1 inside 34's blockhouse, under the pedestal at the pad, or somewhere nearby. The suits are in "poor" condition thanks to NASA. The risk, of course, is that pure oxygen under high pressure requires but a spark to ignite and rapidly burn. Any idea why they discontinued the use of the "Block 1" helmet after Apollo 1? Another side of NASA. The interior parts would not need to be installed. The Apollo 1 fire was a difficult time for NASA and its astronauts, but the improvements in astronaut safety allowed the agency to complete the rest of the program with no further fatalities. Is that the same building as the "infirmary" in the Cape industrial area that one passes on the Then and Now Tour? According to the 200-page report, Grissom, Chaffee, and White had died of cardiac arrest from inhaling too much carbon monoxide and falling asleep. However, if they are soviets, I have no idea who they could be. Whilst I have read about the oxygen hoses burning through and the crew being asphyxiated, I've never heard anything like that before about the Apollo 1 tragedy. 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Landing missions leading digital publisher: ridgefield, ctRegistered: May 2002 helmet after Apollo 1 capsule ( what!