Apollo 1
Also known as AS-204, Apollo I
Apollo 1, initially designated AS-204, was planned to be the first crewed mission of the Apollo program, 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. However, the mission never flew; a cabin fire during a launch rehearsal test at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station Launch Complex 34 on January 27, 1967 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.
AI overview
Apollo 1 was meant to be the first crewed test flight of NASA's Apollo spacecraft in Earth orbit, a critical step toward landing humans on the Moon, but it never flew because a cabin fire during a launch rehearsal test on January 27, 1967, killed all three crew members—Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. The tragedy became a turning point for the Apollo program, leading to significant safety improvements that ultimately enabled the Moon landings in the years that followed.
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Wikidata facts
- Mass
- 20000
- Official website
- www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Apollo204
- Image
- Transfer of Apollo Spacecraft 012 CSM.jpg
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- Commons category
- Apollo 1
- Commons gallery
- Apollo 1
- point in time
- 1967-01-27
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Article
Apollo 1, initially designated AS-204, was planned to be the first crewed mission of the Apollo program, 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, 1967 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.