Photos: Apollo 1 crew and fire in 1967
- Updated
The crew of the first Apollo mission for an eventual moon landing died on Jan. 27, 1967, when the command module interior caught fire during a pre-launch test at Cape Kennedy, Florida. The three who died were Lt. Col. Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, one of the seven original Mercury astronauts, Lt. Roger B. Chaffee and Lt. Col. Edward H. White.
Apollo 1
- Associated Press
- Updated
Lt. Col. Virgil I. Grissom, right, command pilot for the first manned Apollo space flight, explains part of program at a news conference at Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas on March 22, 1966. The other two crew members named by NASA are Lt. Roger B. Chaffee, USN, left, and Lt. Col. Edward H. White, USAF. (AP Photo)
Apollo 1
- Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
From page of the Arizona Daily Star on January 28, 1967.
Apollo 1
- Jim Kerlin / Pool
- Updated
FILE - In this Feb. 17, 1967 file photo, the Apollo 1 capsule, with black smudge marks visible on the heat shield, is lowered from its Saturn 1 booster at Cape Kennedy, Fla. During a launch pad test on Jan. 27, 1967, a flash fire erupted inside the craft killing the three Apollo crew members aboard.
Apollo 1
- Associated Press
- Updated
The charred interior of the Apollo 1 spacecraft after the flash fire that killed astronauts Ed White, Roger Chaffee, and Virgil Grissom, on January 27, 1967 at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Photographed on Jan.28,1967 this severely damaged area is the most likely region for the start of the blaze. The area is near the floor in the lower forward section of the left hand equipment bay below the spacecraft's Environmental Control Unit. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration released a report in Washington about this incident on April 9, 1967. (AP Photo).
Apollo 1
- Jim Kerlin / Pool
- Updated
Technicians and officials inspect the aluminum covered Apollo 1 spacecraft after it was lowered from its booster at pad 34 at Cape Kennedy, Florida on Feb. 17, 1967. Astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee, lost their lives when a flash fire raced through the spacecraft on January 27. For the next several days the vehicle will be examined in detail by investigators probing to find out what caused the tragedy. (AP Photo/Jim Kerlin/Pool)
Apollo 1
- Associated Press
- Updated
The Apollo-Saturn 5 facilities vehicle inches from the assembly building, transported aboard a giant crawler as it is rolled out for the first time at the Kennedy Space Center moon port in Cape Kennedy, Florida on May 25, 1966. The space giant moves toward launch complex 39 in a check out of various facilities. It was the first step toward a launching to the moon.
Apollo 1
- NASA
- Updated
FILE--Astronaut Virgil Grissom waits beside his capsule, the Liberty Bell 7, before he boarded for his suborbital flight from Cape Canaveral, in this July 21, 1961 file photo. Curt Newport, an underwater salvage expert, has spent 14 years trying to find Gus Grissom's sunken Mercury capsule and heads back out to sea on the weekend of April 16, 1999, in his most extensive search for the spacecraft yet. The capsule, which sank in the Atlantic Ocean after splashdown, is the only U.S. manned spacecraft lostafter a successful mission.
Apollo 1
- NASA
- Updated
FILE--Apollo 1 astronauts, from left, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White II, and Roger Chaffee pose next to their Saturn 1 launch vehicle in this Jan. 17, 1967, photo at Launch Complex 34 at Cape Canaveral Air Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The three astronauts were killed in a fire onboard their spacecraft 30 years ago, on Jan. 27, 1967.
Apollo 1
- NASA
- Updated
On April 9, 1959, NASA introduced the country to its first astronauts. They were, front row left to right, Walter H. Schirra, Jr., Donald K. Slayton, John H. Glenn, Jr., and M. Scott Carpenter; back row, Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Virgil I. 'Gus' Grissom, and L. Gordon Cooper.
Apollo 1
- Reed Hoffman / The Discovery Channel
- Updated
Star News----After 38 years at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, Gus Grissom's space capsule Liberty Bell 7 is brought up to the surface Tuesday, July 20, 1999. The capsule, which has been in water 3 miles deep since 1961, was brought to the surface around 2:15 a.m. The capsule had splashed down with Grissom after a 15-minute suborbital flight July 21, 1961. But the explosive bolts that blow open the hatch detonated prematurely, and the spacecraft filled up with water and sank. The salvage team's success came on the 30th anniversary of man's first walk on the moon. Underwater salvage expert Curt Newport and his team discovered Liberty Bell 7 May 1 about 300 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral. (AP Photo/Mandatory Credit The Discovery Channel, Reed Hoffman)
Apollo 1
- Associated Press
- Updated
FILE - In this Jan. 28, 1967 file photo, guards stand at the Saturn 1 launch pad area the day after a flash fire killed the Apollo 1 crew at Cape Kennedy, Fla. Three astronauts, Lt. Col. Virgil Grissom; Lt. Col Edward H. White, and Lt. Commander Roger Chafee were killed when a fire erupted in their capsule on the launch pad during a preflight test for the Apollo 1, AS-204 mission. (AP Photo)
Apollo 1
- NASA
- Updated
In this June 1966 photo made available by NASA, the Apollo 1 crew practices water evacuation procedures with a full scale model of the spacecraft at Ellington AFB, near the then-Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston. In the rafts at right are astronauts Ed White and Roger Chaffee, foreground. In a raft near the spacecraft is astronaut Virgil Grissom. (NASA via AP)
Apollo 1
- Associated Press
- Updated
FILE - In this Jan. 31, 1967 file photo, a horse-drawn caisson carrying the body of astronaut Virgil Grissom travels to the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. Walking beside the flag-draped casket as honor pallbearers are astronauts, from left foreground, Marine Col. John Glenn, Air Force Col. Gordon Cooper, Navy Cmdr. John Young; from left background are Donald Slayton, Navy Capt. Alan Sheperd and Navy Cmdr. Scott Carpenter. Grissom was killed in the Apollo 1 fire on launch pad on Jan. 27, 1967. (AP Photo)
Apollo Fire Memorial
- Tim Shortt / Florida Today
- Updated
From left, Sheryl Chaffee, daughter of Roger Chaffee; Thad Altman, president of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation; Lowell Grissom, brother of Virgil Grissom; and Bonnie Baer, daughter of Ed White, carry a wreath to the base of the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017. Moonwalkers and dozens of others who took part in NASA’s Apollo program paid tribute to the three astronauts killed in a fire 50 years ago. (Tim Shortt /Florida Today via AP)
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Apollo 1
- Associated Press
Lt. Col. Virgil I. Grissom, right, command pilot for the first manned Apollo space flight, explains part of program at a news conference at Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas on March 22, 1966. The other two crew members named by NASA are Lt. Roger B. Chaffee, USN, left, and Lt. Col. Edward H. White, USAF. (AP Photo)
Apollo 1
- Jim Kerlin / Pool
FILE - In this Feb. 17, 1967 file photo, the Apollo 1 capsule, with black smudge marks visible on the heat shield, is lowered from its Saturn 1 booster at Cape Kennedy, Fla. During a launch pad test on Jan. 27, 1967, a flash fire erupted inside the craft killing the three Apollo crew members aboard.
Apollo 1
- Associated Press
The charred interior of the Apollo 1 spacecraft after the flash fire that killed astronauts Ed White, Roger Chaffee, and Virgil Grissom, on January 27, 1967 at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Photographed on Jan.28,1967 this severely damaged area is the most likely region for the start of the blaze. The area is near the floor in the lower forward section of the left hand equipment bay below the spacecraft's Environmental Control Unit. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration released a report in Washington about this incident on April 9, 1967. (AP Photo).
Apollo 1
- Jim Kerlin / Pool
Technicians and officials inspect the aluminum covered Apollo 1 spacecraft after it was lowered from its booster at pad 34 at Cape Kennedy, Florida on Feb. 17, 1967. Astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee, lost their lives when a flash fire raced through the spacecraft on January 27. For the next several days the vehicle will be examined in detail by investigators probing to find out what caused the tragedy. (AP Photo/Jim Kerlin/Pool)
Apollo 1
- Associated Press
The Apollo-Saturn 5 facilities vehicle inches from the assembly building, transported aboard a giant crawler as it is rolled out for the first time at the Kennedy Space Center moon port in Cape Kennedy, Florida on May 25, 1966. The space giant moves toward launch complex 39 in a check out of various facilities. It was the first step toward a launching to the moon.
Apollo 1
- NASA
FILE--Astronaut Virgil Grissom waits beside his capsule, the Liberty Bell 7, before he boarded for his suborbital flight from Cape Canaveral, in this July 21, 1961 file photo. Curt Newport, an underwater salvage expert, has spent 14 years trying to find Gus Grissom's sunken Mercury capsule and heads back out to sea on the weekend of April 16, 1999, in his most extensive search for the spacecraft yet. The capsule, which sank in the Atlantic Ocean after splashdown, is the only U.S. manned spacecraft lostafter a successful mission.
Apollo 1
- NASA
FILE--Apollo 1 astronauts, from left, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White II, and Roger Chaffee pose next to their Saturn 1 launch vehicle in this Jan. 17, 1967, photo at Launch Complex 34 at Cape Canaveral Air Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The three astronauts were killed in a fire onboard their spacecraft 30 years ago, on Jan. 27, 1967.
Apollo 1
- NASA
On April 9, 1959, NASA introduced the country to its first astronauts. They were, front row left to right, Walter H. Schirra, Jr., Donald K. Slayton, John H. Glenn, Jr., and M. Scott Carpenter; back row, Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Virgil I. 'Gus' Grissom, and L. Gordon Cooper.
Apollo 1
- Reed Hoffman / The Discovery Channel
Star News----After 38 years at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, Gus Grissom's space capsule Liberty Bell 7 is brought up to the surface Tuesday, July 20, 1999. The capsule, which has been in water 3 miles deep since 1961, was brought to the surface around 2:15 a.m. The capsule had splashed down with Grissom after a 15-minute suborbital flight July 21, 1961. But the explosive bolts that blow open the hatch detonated prematurely, and the spacecraft filled up with water and sank. The salvage team's success came on the 30th anniversary of man's first walk on the moon. Underwater salvage expert Curt Newport and his team discovered Liberty Bell 7 May 1 about 300 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral. (AP Photo/Mandatory Credit The Discovery Channel, Reed Hoffman)
Apollo 1
- Associated Press
FILE - In this Jan. 28, 1967 file photo, guards stand at the Saturn 1 launch pad area the day after a flash fire killed the Apollo 1 crew at Cape Kennedy, Fla. Three astronauts, Lt. Col. Virgil Grissom; Lt. Col Edward H. White, and Lt. Commander Roger Chafee were killed when a fire erupted in their capsule on the launch pad during a preflight test for the Apollo 1, AS-204 mission. (AP Photo)
Apollo 1
- NASA
In this June 1966 photo made available by NASA, the Apollo 1 crew practices water evacuation procedures with a full scale model of the spacecraft at Ellington AFB, near the then-Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston. In the rafts at right are astronauts Ed White and Roger Chaffee, foreground. In a raft near the spacecraft is astronaut Virgil Grissom. (NASA via AP)
Apollo 1
- Associated Press
FILE - In this Jan. 31, 1967 file photo, a horse-drawn caisson carrying the body of astronaut Virgil Grissom travels to the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. Walking beside the flag-draped casket as honor pallbearers are astronauts, from left foreground, Marine Col. John Glenn, Air Force Col. Gordon Cooper, Navy Cmdr. John Young; from left background are Donald Slayton, Navy Capt. Alan Sheperd and Navy Cmdr. Scott Carpenter. Grissom was killed in the Apollo 1 fire on launch pad on Jan. 27, 1967. (AP Photo)
Apollo Fire Memorial
- Tim Shortt / Florida Today
From left, Sheryl Chaffee, daughter of Roger Chaffee; Thad Altman, president of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation; Lowell Grissom, brother of Virgil Grissom; and Bonnie Baer, daughter of Ed White, carry a wreath to the base of the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017. Moonwalkers and dozens of others who took part in NASA’s Apollo program paid tribute to the three astronauts killed in a fire 50 years ago. (Tim Shortt /Florida Today via AP)
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