Planned United States spaceflight destroyed by accidental fire (1967)
Apollo 1
Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee in front of the launch pad containing their AS-204 space vehicle
Names
AS-204, Apollo 1
Mission type
Crewed spacecraft verification test
Operator
NASA
Mission duration
Up to 14 days (planned)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft
CSM-012
Spacecraft type
Apollo command and service module, Block I
Manufacturer
North American Aviation
Launch mass
20,000 kilograms (45,000 lb)
Crew
Crew size
3
Members
Gus Grissom
Edward H. White II
Roger B. Chaffee
Start of mission
Launch date
February 21, 1967 (planned)
Rocket
Saturn IB AS-204
Launch site
Cape Kennedy LC-34
End of mission
Destroyed
January 27, 1967
23:31:19 UTC
Orbital parameters
Reference system
Geocentric
Regime
Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude
220 kilometers (120 nmi) (planned)
Apogee altitude
300 kilometers (160 nmi) (planned)
Inclination
31 degrees (planned)
Period
89.7 minutes (planned)
From left: White, Grissom, Chaffee
Apollo program
← AS-202
Apollo 4 →
Apollo 1, initially designated AS-204, was planned to be the first crewed mission of the Apollo program,[1] the American undertaking to land the first man on the Moon. It was planned to launch on February 21, 1967, as the first low Earth orbital test of the Apollo command and service module. The mission never flew; a cabin fire during a launch rehearsal test at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station Launch Complex 34 on January 27 killed all three crew members—Command Pilot Gus Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White, and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee—and destroyed the command module (CM). The name Apollo 1, chosen by the crew, was made official by NASA in their honor after the fire.
Immediately after the fire, NASA convened an Accident Review Board to determine the cause of the fire, and both chambers of the United States Congress conducted their own committee inquiries to oversee NASA's investigation. The ignition source of the fire was determined to be electrical, and the fire spread rapidly due to combustible nylon material and the high-pressure pure oxygen cabin atmosphere. Rescue was prevented by the plug door hatch, which could not be opened against the internal pressure of the cabin. Because the rocket was unfueled, the test had not been considered hazardous, and emergency preparedness for it was poor.
During the Congressional investigation, Senator Walter Mondale publicly revealed a NASA internal document citing problems with prime Apollo contractor North American Aviation, which became known as the Phillips Report. This disclosure embarrassed NASA Administrator James E. Webb, who was unaware of the document's existence, and attracted controversy to the Apollo program. Despite congressional displeasure at NASA's lack of openness, both congressional committees ruled that the issues raised in the report had no bearing on the accident.
Crewed Apollo flights were suspended for twenty months while the command module's hazards were addressed. However, the development and uncrewed testing of the lunar module (LM) and Saturn V rocket continued. The Saturn IB launch vehicle for Apollo1, AS-204, was used for the first LM test flight, Apollo 5. The first successful crewed Apollo mission was flown by Apollo1's backup crew on Apollo 7 in October 1968.
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Global Information
