Human Space Flight Is Awesome

Apollo 1: 44 years ago today

The Apollo 1 astronauts pose in a photo that supposedly expressed their concern about the reliability of the command module.

NASA lost its first astronauts on this day in 1967. Roger Chaffee, Gus Grisson and Ed White died in a fire during a test of the Apollo command module.

During the test, the module was pressurised with pure Oxygen, as it would be during the flight. The increased pressure was partially intended to prevent the hatch from being opened in any way. However, a spark from some unshielded wiring inside the capsule caused a fire to break out. The oxygen-rich air allowed the fire to spread rapidly. The heat increased the pressure inside the capsule further, making it impossible to open the hatch. Communication with the capsule was lost with 17 seconds of the fire breaking out.

The astronaut’s bodies were initially unable to be recovered. The extreme heat melted the their space suits, fusing them to the capsule.

Substandard plumbing and wiring, as well as the use of a pure oxygen atmosphere contributed to the accident. The Apollo 1 fire was the catalyst for NASA to rethink the design of the Apollo command module, as well as its own decision making and design policies.

It would be 19 years and one day later before another group of astronauts would lose their lives in a NASA spacecraft.