|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
Apollo 1 | Virgil I. Grissom, CDR | Edward White, CMP | Roger Chaffee, LMP |
On January 23, 1967, and event occured which changed everything in America's race for the moon. At 6:31, PM, during a routine plugs-out test atop pad 34 at the Cape, fire swept through the extreamly pressurized, pure oxygen environment, killing all three men in a matter of only 15 seconds. Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, who's suits had failed, suffocated on the poison atmosphere filling the cabin. Three good men perished atop the huge Saturn 1B rocket, during a routine test which had been performed throught the entire Mercury and Gemini programs, and which the back up crew had only just completed. America would not launch another mission for over a year and a half.
 It is known that there was a bare wire, frayed due to abrasion by a near-by trap door, that sparked, on the floor of the cabin, beneath Grissom's feet. The used of over 17 psi pure oxygen only added to the severity of this already very severe fire. Plus, the hatch, which under normal circumstances takes ninty seconds to open, and opens inward, as impossible to open in the fifteen seconds the crew was alive, and impossible to pull against the mounting pressure from the fire. It is very ironic, however. In 1961, Gus Grissom's Mercury capsule, Liberty Bell 7, sank when the explosive bolts on the hatch blew prematurly, and randomly, without any action on his part (There was an investigation which found that they had infact just blown, and that Grissom was not at fault). If this happened in space, one can only imgine. So explosive bolts were left out of the Gemini and Apollo crafts. Had there been explosive bolts on Apollo 1, one push of a button nd they would have been out of there, and Grissom, White and Chaffee might still be alive today. There are many things to be blamed for that fire. Many people said North American was lazy and incompetant in their work, citing a socket wrench which was found amungst some wiring in the charred space craft, but which had nothing to do with the fire itself. Other's said NASA pushed North American to meet unrealistic deadlines. But there was plenty of blame to go around. The astronauts themselves were not happy with the command module, especially Grissom. There were so many things not quite working right, and he felt it would not be ready in time for his flight. He even hung a lemon on the simulator to show his dislike. Before Grissom got in the command module for the test, Wally Schirra took him aside and told him if they had any problems at all, even communications problems, get out of there as fast as possible. Well, they did have very bad communitcations problems. A famous Grissom quote: "How are we going to get to the moon if we can't talk between two or three buildings?" That was the least of their problems that ight. Without this fire, we probably could have made the moon in 1968. It set us back so far in our race. It also took the lives of three incredible men. Their contributions added so much to the space program (Remeber White was the first American space walk, and Grissom commanded Mercury-Redstone 4 and Gemini 3), and their sacrafice will never be forgotten. |
