On Jan. 27, 1967, a fire broke out in the Apollo 1 Command Module during a launch rehearsal test. Three astronauts were killed.
The crew of Apollo 1 knew their ship would never reach the Moon.
The crew boarded the Apollo 1 capsule in their space suits. Grissom noticed a strange smell, similar to soured buttermilk, but air samples revealed nothing untoward. The rocket’s hatch was closed, and then the cover that protects the rocket’s boost was put on. It was heavy and made of two parts. Afterward, purified oxygen was pumped into the cabin.
The test went badly from the outset. The master alarm on Apollo 1 kept going off because of a high oxygen level, and the intermittent communication between Grissom and astronaut Stu Roosa, seated in the blockhouse, whipped up some heated words.
Currently, the calls have been flooding in a rapid and ferocious manner. Chaffee yelled, “We’ve got a fire in the cockpit.” “Let’s get out. We’re burning up.” He ended his talk with a short but intense scream that made him feel very sick.
Subsequently, the crew biomedical measurements experienced a significant increase, indicating an enhanced oxygen supply in their space suits. Other sensors detected a short power surge. Subsequently, the first call came from inside Apollo 1.
It was Chaffee’s voice. And it was just one word: “Fire!”
Investigators found that the fire started under Grissoms left footrest, near some wires that were not covered or stuck together. The inferno was ignited by pure oxygen, augmented by Velcro pads, nylon nets, and polyurethane panels, which provided additional fuel.
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