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Started By
Message
The Apollo 1 fire happened 59 years ago today...
Posted on 1/27/26 at 4:52 am
Posted on 1/27/26 at 4:52 am
January 27, 1967.
Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were in their Apollo 1 spacecraft conducting what NASA called a "Plugs-Out" Test. This was a full dress rehearsal for launch, where the astronauts were in full pressure suits, the command module hatch closed, and the capsule pressurized with 100% oxygen. Due to communications issues and other problems with the spacecraft, the text dragged on into the evening.
At 6:30:54 PM, a brief power surge was detected aboard the spacecraft. Unbeknownst to the astronauts and ground crew, a short had occurred, and a fire had started underneath Gus Grissom's seat. Over the next 10 seconds, the fire, fed by the cabin's 100% oxygen atmosphere, grew larger and larger...
It took only 15 seconds from the first report of the fire to the explosion that ruptured the capsule due to rising internal pressure. Flames and smoke engulfed the white room, and the pad crew began desperately to fight the fire. When it was all over, and the fire was out, Grissom, White, and Chaffee were found to have perished in the fire.
Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were in their Apollo 1 spacecraft conducting what NASA called a "Plugs-Out" Test. This was a full dress rehearsal for launch, where the astronauts were in full pressure suits, the command module hatch closed, and the capsule pressurized with 100% oxygen. Due to communications issues and other problems with the spacecraft, the text dragged on into the evening.
At 6:30:54 PM, a brief power surge was detected aboard the spacecraft. Unbeknownst to the astronauts and ground crew, a short had occurred, and a fire had started underneath Gus Grissom's seat. Over the next 10 seconds, the fire, fed by the cabin's 100% oxygen atmosphere, grew larger and larger...
It took only 15 seconds from the first report of the fire to the explosion that ruptured the capsule due to rising internal pressure. Flames and smoke engulfed the white room, and the pad crew began desperately to fight the fire. When it was all over, and the fire was out, Grissom, White, and Chaffee were found to have perished in the fire.
7
Posted on 1/27/26 at 5:03 am to RollTide1987
Ed White was probably too tall to be an astronaut. He was the finest athlete the astronaut corps had at that time.
He excelled at almost everything - academics, flying, sports. He played football and soccer at West Point and barely missed the Olympic team in the 400.
He was a little late getting his wings to have seen combat in Korea. He became a test pilot in the late 1950s to better his chances of becoming an astronaut. He was the first American to walk in space. He left a widow, a son and a daughter.
He excelled at almost everything - academics, flying, sports. He played football and soccer at West Point and barely missed the Olympic team in the 400.
He was a little late getting his wings to have seen combat in Korea. He became a test pilot in the late 1950s to better his chances of becoming an astronaut. He was the first American to walk in space. He left a widow, a son and a daughter.
This post was edited on 1/27/26 at 5:04 am
Posted on 1/27/26 at 5:10 am to RollTide1987
And idiots today dishonor the memory of these brave men by saying they died for nothing since we were gonna fake the Moon landings anyway.
All of these retards put together don't have a ball the size these men had.
All of these retards put together don't have a ball the size these men had.
This post was edited on 1/27/26 at 9:35 am
Posted on 1/27/26 at 6:16 am to RollTide1987
Go Fever
Posted on 1/27/26 at 6:25 am to RollTide1987
This is from a HBO series called From the Earth to the Moon.
ETA: The actor playing Borman, David Andrews, is a Baton Rouge native and would have attended LSU around 1970 to 1974 or thereabouts.
ETA: The actor playing Borman, David Andrews, is a Baton Rouge native and would have attended LSU around 1970 to 1974 or thereabouts.
This post was edited on 1/27/26 at 6:32 am
Posted on 1/27/26 at 7:00 am to RollTide1987
What an awful way to die
Posted on 1/27/26 at 7:25 am to Ace Midnight
Thank you for sharing this video clip. I hope I can find that on HBO. I was just a young lad when I remember my mom telling me some astronauts had been killed on the launch pad at Cape Kennedy. Even then as a 4-year-old it affected me and I remember seeing my mom cry and thank you for sharing this video. Did not know there was a movie out there about this. I will try to find. Thank you my brother. Godspeed to all the astronauts we have lost
Posted on 1/27/26 at 7:32 am to windhamtiger
It's a 10-part series. The Apollo One episode is called just that - Apollo One, but I can recommend the entire series.
It is comparable in quality to Band of Brothers or Chernobyl. Some of the best HBO has to offer. Effectively, From the Earth to the Moon is to Apollo 13 as Band of Brothers is to Saving Private Ryan.
It is comparable in quality to Band of Brothers or Chernobyl. Some of the best HBO has to offer. Effectively, From the Earth to the Moon is to Apollo 13 as Band of Brothers is to Saving Private Ryan.
This post was edited on 1/27/26 at 12:41 pm
Posted on 1/27/26 at 7:37 am to TigerGman
quote:
And idiots today dishonor the memory of these brave men by saying they died for nothing since we were gonna fake the Moon landings anyway.
All of these retards put together don't have ball the size these men had.
The space/moon landing deniers are a pathetic lot of fools. They are an example of how a group of people can be so void of content that their only hope of being relevant is by being controversial to the point of lunacy.
Throw flat earthers in there as well.
Posted on 1/27/26 at 7:44 am to RollTide1987
Here in Huntsville, they named three schools after the astronauts. Grissom HS (Jon Sumrall’s Alma mater), Ed White middle school, and Chaffee elementary school. There is also a Challenger elementary/middle school and Columbia HS.
Please no more astronaut accidents.
Please no more astronaut accidents.
Posted on 1/27/26 at 8:01 am to RollTide1987
That audio is horrifying.
Posted on 1/27/26 at 8:17 am to Ace Midnight
quote:
It is comparable in quality to Band of Brothers or Chernobyl. Some of the best HBO has to offer.
Agree. Exceptional work of art featuring these brave, exceptional men.
"May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace"
This post was edited on 1/27/26 at 8:40 am
Posted on 1/27/26 at 9:37 am to Ace Midnight
quote:
It's a 10-part series. The Apollo One episode is called just that - Apollo One, but I can recommend the entire series.
It is comparable in quality to Band of Brothers or Chernobyl. Some of the best HBO has to offer. Effectively, From the Earth to the Moon is to Apollo 13 was Band of Brothers was to Saving Private Ryan.
So well done, highly recommend it. Tom Hanks produced it.
Posted on 1/27/26 at 9:46 am to Snipe
quote:
The space/moon landing deniers are a pathetic lot of fools. They are an example of how a group of people can be so void of content that their only hope of being relevant is by being controversial to the point of lunacy.
Damn well stated.
Worth a repost.
Posted on 1/27/26 at 10:31 am to wallowinit
played a lot of youth basketball at the Ed White Youth center in Seabrook growing up. The Dad of a guy at our high school made his career as a plaintiff attorney when he signed up Gus Grissom's wife very close to the deadline for her to file a lawsuit and sued and won. He went from an office in a strip center to making millions over his career. Sort of an 80's version of Gordon.
Posted on 1/27/26 at 12:37 pm to Ace Midnight
quote:
It's a 10-part series.
Sorry - I misspoke - it is a 12-part series. I always consider The Original Wives Club (directed by Sally Field, who also appeared in the episode as Trudy Cooper) and Le Voyage Dans La Lune (directed by Jonathan Mostow and starring Tom Hanks as Jean-Luc Despont, assistant to Georges Méliès) as "extras", although they are very good as well.
I just always seem to forget them in the count.
Posted on 1/27/26 at 12:45 pm to Ace Midnight
The real Borman a few years ago (he passed just a couple of years back at 95):
Recall that after all of this, he agreed to fly an Apollo craft all the way to the Moon (for the first time).
Recall that after all of this, he agreed to fly an Apollo craft all the way to the Moon (for the first time).
Posted on 1/27/26 at 12:54 pm to Ace Midnight
quote:
This is from a HBO series called From the Earth to the Moon.
This was a great series, and I’d like to think was the impetus for Hanks to start Playtone which gave us Band of Brothers, The Pacific, John Adams, etc
Posted on 1/27/26 at 1:03 pm to Kirby59
quote:
Here in Huntsville, they named three schools after the astronauts
I attended Grissom Elementary in Houston for the 1st Grade in '74.
Posted on 1/27/26 at 1:39 pm to wahoocs
Gus had a pretty good speed shop in Houston, so Clem and Bill told me.
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