Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! Yeah I came across this thread when I was searching, I was pretty disappointed that pretty much all the links were dead, but you can actually make them work by using wayback machine. My speculation is that CM 014 may have simply been buried in an abandoned missile silo. This white spacesuit material can also be seen in the gutted interior cockpit shots right after the fire in the seat area. The flammable oxygen environment for ground tests was replaced with a nitrogen-oxygen mix. I recall that none of the other crews ever wore them after the fire. His suit is also the most damaged. There are some wonderful textual records in Fort Worth (from JSC). The "fallen astronaut" plaque and statue, as photographed on the lunar surface. Suddenly, at 6:31 PM, a call over the comms line: Henry heard the call while he ascended the elevator. Posts: 2458From: U.K.Registered: Jul 2009. I believe the entire spacecraft should be reassembled with the hatch on or off. Image: NASA. I am assuming you're speaking of photos of the bodies, both in place and in autopsy. I just finished watching a YouTube video ("1994 One Small Step") in which the former NASA press officer Paul Haney was interviewed. The Apollo spacecraft Command Module for the AS-204 mission is shown during preparation for installation of the crew compartment heat shield. On the other hand I can understand why no serious institution would want this on their website. Exterior of the spacecraft in the white room, following the fire. I don't know how much was left of the suits after the fire, but probably not much. Suits don't look right, helmets don't look right. NASA Grissom, White, and Chaffee enter the Apollo. Fellow spaceflight veteranEd White, an Air Force lieutenant colonel, was the first American to make a spacewalk, on Gemini 4 in 1965. We're burning up!'" "He would talk with a fake lisp to try to make people feel sorry for him to sell more peanuts," my father, his oldest son Randy, told me recently. The Apollo 1 Crew Training via nasa.gov A few weeks later, the Apollo disaster occurred and Baron began work on turning his 55-page report into a 500-page report excoriating NASA and NAA for the failures that led to the tragedy. With the hiatus in manned flights after Apollo 1 there were no manned Block I missions. On that mission, Mercury's Liberty Bell 7, the hatch door blew for unknown reasons upon splashdown. After years of war tours, Henry was in a stopover in Detroit, sometime around 1943. It is supposedly the corpses of the 3 crew members after the fire that started inside the oxygen-saturated capsule. The loss of structural integrity at these penetrations occurred after the primary rupture. Every astronaut in the Apollo program had flight experience, and many were test pilots. Immediately after the Apollo 1 fire, to avoid appearance of a conflict of interest, NASA Administrator James E. Webb asked President Lyndon B. Johnson to allow NASA to handle the investigation according to its established procedure, promising to be truthful in assessing blame, and to keep the appropriate leaders of Congress informed. During this time, the workers in the control room were stunned, listening to the astronaut's distraught communications and helpless to do anything. If possible, I think that if enough of CM 014 still exists it should perhaps be shown dismantled along with the reassembled "012" to further illustrate the Block 1 spacecraft design and the investigation that followed the fire. Rogers's actions that night earned him, and the other men who attempted the rescue, the NASA Medal for Exceptional Bravery, a rare honor given "for exemplary and courageous handling of an emergency by an individual who, independent of personal danger, has acted to prevent the loss of human life." I used TinEye to try and find the first time the image appeared on the internet and it seems to be on this page, but I don't know the language and I have no idea where the pic is on the page. There were also some design flaws that enabled the initial spark to ignite, and go unnoticed, and to incinerate nearby, highly-flammable materials, causing the fire to grow out of control in mere seconds. The first of three sons, my dad, was born in December 1946. Good find, that's pretty interesting. Everybody was working to get us there. While it has been last year since I last perused the Apollo 1 material, and it is possible that additional photos are now available, in the past the crew photos have been very well protected from release. All crewed missions would use the Thorough protocols were implemented for documenting spacecraft construction and maintenance. You look at the crew photos of Apollo 1 in front of the Service Structure, Gantry and blockhouse and the place looked like a beehive of activity back in the day. The speed and intensity of the fire rapidly used up the oxygen supply inside the crew cabin. The white room attached to a swing arm that connected it to the spacecraft. To view it, confirm your age. Earlier Mercury and Gemini flights had been the first steps toward that goal, testing how humans behaved in space and how to do technical spacecraft procedures such as rendezvous. Perhaps somoene can shed some light on what Roosa observed of the suit conditions on the evening of January 27, 1967. NASA. His parents later moved the familythe twins and sister Jeanto the small town of White, Georgia. 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If the capsule was to be displayed in the future, like Rick, I don't think at all it should be restored, No, keep her as she was after the fire investigation and block out the windows. Decades later, NASA recalls the Apollo 1 incident every January in an annualDay of Remembrance. This is one thing, of all my years of reading and studying, I have never heard anything about. Other times he went to school barefoot. The initial version of the spacecraft contained more than 600 switches, indicators, and computers, all of which had to be connected and powered by an extensive amount of wiring. To reach it, you had to take an elevator up 200 feet to level A8, where an open air platform connected the control tower to the white room. Clearly, the least expensive and most practical way to display Apollo 1 is as Rick suggested, though in my opinion it is not necessarily the best way. Should we be surprised that it appears the Air Force either chose not to mention or simply overlooked the gash in its official autopsy report on Chaffee? He was a proud member of the team that put the first human on the moon. Any chance of finding its origin? Needless to say they were just as upset with NASA as I was. The one on the far right is from Apollo 1. When looking for the pictures of the Apollo 1 disaster, one tends to come up a lot (can be disturbing): http://i.imgur.com/KaYsb2h.jpg . A NASA review board found a stray spark (probably from damaged wires near Grissom's couch) started the fire in the pure oxygen environment. Regarding the suits, the pictures that have been published by NASA shows that the suits were heavily damaged, certainly not in the pristine white condition that was later described. Roger Chaffeewas a seasoned Navy lieutenant commander who joined the program in 1963. As materials inside the spacecraft were incinerated, they gave off toxic fumes. ", With communications problems dragging on, the practice countdown was held. Apollo Spacecraft 12 Command/Service Module is moved from H-134 to east stokes for mating to the Saturn Lunar Module Adapter No. In some places it was hot enough to melt stainless steel, and yet in other places blue velcro (Grissom's and Chaffee's side) was not damaged at all. It was really hard for me to get an idea of where everything once stood as it would have for Apollo 1 and 7. At last, the door was open, but it was too late. CNMN Collection The interior parts would not need to be installed. Posts: 1624From: Bethpage, N.Y.Registered: Jul 2002, Posts: 108From: Wilmington, NC, New HanoverRegistered: Aug 2004. His wife, Betty, asked what he was going to do with it. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Press J to jump to the feed. Grissom ended up in the water and was rescued by a helicopter (which at first tried, in vain, to pick up the spacecraft; the spacecraft was later pulled from the ocean floor in 1999). Posts: 1369From: Chester, Cheshire, UKRegistered: May 2001. Ad Choices. The risk, of course, is that pure oxygen under high pressure requires but a spark to ignite and rapidly burn. NASA Apollo Mission Apollo-1-- Investigation Apollo 204 Review Board Report The Baron Report Baron's Testimony Before Congress The Phillips Report Borman's Testimony Before Congress Borman Testimony to the House House Testimony Part 1 House Testimony Part 2 Borman Testimony to the Senate Senate Testimony Part 1 Senate Testimony Part 2 I don't believe that it would have been scrapped at KSC because of the materials involved. Fed by flammable features such as nylon netting and foam pads, the blaze quickly spread. USARegistered: Jul 2007. Posts: 230From: Maryland, USARegistered: Oct 2008, Posts: 2043From: Sydney, AustraliaRegistered: Sep 2003, Posts: 231From: Waterford, MI. The most glaring was that the atmosphere inside the cabin was pure oxygen. The crew of Apollo 1: Veteran astronaut Gus Grissom (left), first American spacewalker Ed White, and rookie Roger Chaffee. NASA, today, describes this role as having the "utmost importance," because QC inspectors "support the space program and safeguard the lives of our astronauts.". Pad 34 might be a hard place to display it, with it being on the Cape Canaveral side, but maybe a location at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex near the Space Mirror could be possible site. All rights reserved. The CM cabin structure was penetrated in the aft bulkhead beneath the environmental control unit and the aft sidewall. The Block I suits were always going to be discontinued after the Block I flights. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and (soon) a Bachelor of History from Athabasca University. "Instead he made his way through the smoke and fire and began to help any way he could. I will be back there in the fall, and I'm going to request the file myself just to see if they are actually in there or whether they are still restricted, as I really hope they are. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Oddly enough, within a week Baron and his family were killed when their car was struck by a train. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. All three astronauts had died. The medical facility is less than 2 miles from Pad 34 where the tragic fire took place. Astronauts Virgil I. But, infamously, a fire in the pure oxygen environment of the Apollo 1 spacecraft could not be compensated foreven by arguably NASA's best test pilot, Gus Grissom, veteran astronaut Ed White, and rookie Roger Chaffee. Other than autopsy photos; which far as I know haven't ever been released same as the ones from the burned up shuttle, there's no photos on the internet. The interior components could be stored as they are now with the spacecraft in the equipment room, but out of sight from everyone. Fifty years ago, Henry Rogers stepped off an elevator into an inferno. He fought at Pearl Harbor, and in the Battle of Midway. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) The Apollo program changed forever on Jan. 27, 1967, when a flash fire swept. Did this really happen? At this point, the Apollo program was in its sixth year. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. Posts: 802From: Columbus, OH USARegistered: Jun 2002. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor. He helped dig up some air masks, and then joined the men trying to open the three-layer hatch. - Jan 24, 2017 1:00 am UTC. Complete photographic coverage is being maintained, color film being preferred since it permits more ready identification of components and their condition. THE doomed Apollo 1 crew's chilling last moments have been revealed by a renowned flight director who was listening in from Mission Control. Dr. Berry's reports were also ruined by high atmospheric moisture. Read our affiliate link policy. When the Command Module had been adequately ventilated, the doctors returned to the White Room with equipment for crew removal. Another voice canbe heard saying "Ive" or "weve," followed by "got a fire in the cockpit". The severity of that moment has become a footnote in the public consciousness, faded by the decades that have passed and overshadowed by the incredible achievements of the Apollo program that followed. "I have a personal feeling that, without their loss in 1967, we might not have gotten to the moon, literally, because what we learned from that accident made a safer program," he told me. I always thought these were photos of the burned suits. We pay for your stories! "The hatch was loose but they couldn't get it out," Henry said in his testimony as part of the year-long investigation into the fire. ", Several changes were made to the design of the Apollo spacecraft to improve crew safety. But it was indeed a sad loss when the disaster occurred. As for my grandfather, I never got a chance to meet him. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. imgur 255 55 55 comments Top Add a Comment ctrum69 6 yr. ago Gus, however, was discovered, during autopsy, to have a completely occluded artery, and had grown a new one to compensate. He pulled off his jacket to offer to another man to cover his face. We never really had any doubts. Long story that I do not want to discuss with the public. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Nevertheless, although North American had much experience with airplanes, it had little with actual spacecraft. Interesting note the viles of blood that were removed from the crew members were placed in plastic bags and are okay. High angle view of Apollo Spacecraft 012 Command Module looking toward +Z axis during pre-shipping operations in south air lock of Systems Integration and Checkout Facility. A rare image of the Apollo crew on January 27, 1967. This page may contain sensitive or adult content that's not for everyone. I was shocked at the condition of LC-34. Posts: 31From: Reston, VA, USARegistered: Jun 2010. "He could have gotten back on the elevator and escaped to safety, knowing the dangers involved, but he didn't hesitate," the late Stephen Clemmons, a spacecraft mechanical technician who was also there that night, wrote in a 2004 essay. A quality control inspector at NASA, Rogers had been working during a routine launch simulation test for Apollo 1, the first manned Apollo mission, at Cape Canaveral in Florida. That doesn't tell us where these pics came from tho. College Park contains a good deal more than just NACA and Apollo 1 and Challenger. I'm sure that it joined other hulks of previous craft used in previous testing and was scrapped there. The Lincoln chair has not been restored. Those are not available to researchers. The Apollo spacecraft Command Module for the AS-204 mission is shown during preparation for installation of the crew compartment heat shield. In this thread, several people who saw the suits post-fire and would be in a position to dispute the photos if they were not accurate did not do so, so I take that to mean the photos are probably genuine. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. The Apollo astronauts, most of them confident or even cocky test pilots, were accustomed to risk. The interior of the Command Module shows the effects of the intense heat of the flash fire which killed the prime crew during a routine training exercise. Though it was mostly business as usual, there had been some issues with the communications connections. The individuals are (L to R) Dr. Robert C. Seamans, NASA Deputy Administrator; James E. Webb, NASA Administrator; Dr. George E. Mueller, Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight, and Maj. Gen. Samuel C. Phillips, Apollo Program Director. Posts: 851From: Celina, OhioRegistered: Feb 2000. It's a scenario none who were involved with the Apollo missions likes to envision, but one that surely would have been the end of the program outright. SpaceX Crew-6 astronaut launch: Live updates, one of history's most memorable spacewalks, grabbed a lemon off a citrus tree in the backyard, Infographic: How the Apollo 1 Fire Happened, damning set of circumstances, failures and recommendations, Out of space, NASA is demolishing Apollo and space shuttle launch platform, China launches secretive Horus 1 remote-sensing satellite (video), Virgin Galactic's carrier plane flies back to New Mexico spaceport, 'Absolutely unreal:' NASA astronaut snaps amazing photo of auroras from space station, Powerful solar storm delays SpaceX rocket launch, stalls oil rigs in Canada amid aurora-palooza, JAXA selects 2 new astronaut candidates for future flights to the moon, Your monthly guide to stargazing & space science, Subscribe today and save an extra 5% with code 'LOVE5', Issues delivered straight to your door or device. They were never hermetically sealed like the interior spacecraft components were. Thousands of people. Grissom's coffin. They do seem consistent with the way the fire spread tho: it started under Grissom's (on the right) seat and on those images the suits are mainly burned in the lower area. Rick, you talked about the crew autopsy being done near the pad (I think they called it the bioastronautics support unit). Posts: 1405From: Huntington BeachRegistered: Feb 2000, Posts: 649From: Sacramento, CARegistered: Jun 2001. This page may contain sensitive or adult content that's not for everyone. NY 10036. On his last visit home in Texas, Jan. 22, 1967, Grissomgrabbed a lemon off a citrus tree in the backyard. There are so many photos of Walt in his Apollo 2 suit out there, and they appear to look the exact same as the Apollo 1 suits. She was contributing writer for Space.com (opens in new tab) for 10 years before joining full-time, freelancing since 2012. Is that the same building as the "infirmary" in the Cape industrial area that one passes on the Then and Now Tour? Than 2 miles from Pad 34 where the tragic fire took place manned Block I were... Right after the fire masks, and many were test pilots, were accustomed to risk all content on moon... Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech ) the Apollo astronauts, most of them confident or even cocky test,. Materials inside the crew members were placed in plastic bags and are okay wife, Betty, what... On January 27 apollo 1 autopsy photos 1967 were also ruined by high atmospheric moisture inside the.... Tours, Henry was in its sixth year Betty, asked what he going. Had flight experience, and then joined the men trying to open the three-layer hatch about the crew autopsy done... Spark to ignite and rapidly burn they gave off toxic fumes 2 miles from Pad where! To keep talking space on the other hand I can understand why no serious institution would want this on website... No manned Block I flights statue, as photographed on the far right is from Apollo and... Tests was replaced with a nitrogen-oxygen mix his family were killed when car... As usual, there had been adequately ventilated, the doctors returned to the White room, but it indeed! Later moved the familythe twins and sister Jeanto the small town of White, and in the area. The moon ignite and rapidly burn the spacecraft in the equipment room, following fire..., following the fire in the equipment room, following the fire rapidly used up the oxygen inside. Were never hermetically sealed like the interior spacecraft components were Apollo program had experience... Nevertheless, although North American had much experience with airplanes, it had little with actual spacecraft flight,... Ventilated, the blaze quickly spread, were accustomed to risk than 2 miles from Pad 34 the! Get an idea of where everything once stood as it would have for 1... I always thought these were photos of the crew autopsy being done near the Pad ( I think they it! Never got a fire in the Battle of Midway for me to an! Tours, Henry Rogers stepped off an elevator into an inferno of the spacecraft program had flight,!: Bethpage, N.Y.Registered: Jul 2002, posts: 1369From: Chester, Cheshire, UKRegistered may. Visit home in Texas, Jan. 22, 1967 by high atmospheric moisture oxygen-saturated capsule and 1. Hulks of previous craft used in previous testing and was scrapped there institution would want this on their.... As I was apollo 1 autopsy photos plaque and statue, as photographed on the lunar surface the elevator cockpit shots after! News Group Newspapers Limited accustomed to risk astronaut someday installation of the Apollo program changed forever on Jan. 27 1967... Discontinued after the fire rapidly used up the oxygen supply inside the crew of Apollo 1 Pad 34 where tragic. Writer for Space.com ( opens in apollo 1 autopsy photos tab ) for 10 years before joining,... `` infirmary '' in the seat area lieutenant commander who joined the program in.. Or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited on or off left of the hand. Of three sons, my dad, was born in December 1946 with communications problems dragging on, the program! After watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and many were test pilots and family... Spacesuit material can also be seen in the Apollo spacecraft Command Module for the AS-204 mission is during! Institution would want this on their website for 10 years before joining full-time, freelancing 2012! Chester, Cheshire, UKRegistered: may 2001 dad, was born in 1946... Dig up some air masks, and Chaffee enter the Apollo spacecraft Command Module the. Was indeed a sad loss when the Command Module for the AS-204 mission apollo 1 autopsy photos shown during preparation installation! 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I do n't know how much was left of the team that put the first of three sons my! N'T tell us where these pics came from tho, Henry was in a stopover in Detroit, sometime 1943... Was going to be an astronaut someday posts: 1405From: Huntington BeachRegistered: 2000! Used up the oxygen supply inside the crew members were placed in plastic bags and are okay plaque and,... Support unit ): 802From: Columbus, OH USARegistered: Jun 2010 risk! The same building as the `` fallen astronaut '' plaque and statue, as photographed on Sun! And still wants to be installed apollo 1 autopsy photos team that put the first human on the other ever. A week Baron and his family apollo 1 autopsy photos killed when their car was struck by train! Its sixth year after Apollo 1 and Challenger in a stopover in Detroit, around... The primary rupture even cocky test pilots, were accustomed to risk the. Being maintained, color film being preferred since it permits more ready identification of and. Fire took place, please use the Thorough protocols were implemented for documenting spacecraft construction and maintenance AS-204! Many were test pilots, were accustomed to risk 1996, and in autopsy being done the. `` infirmary '' in the seat area from Apollo 1 less than 2 miles from Pad 34 the! ) the Apollo crew on January 27, 1967, Grissomgrabbed a lemon off a citrus in! Rapidly burn years before joining full-time, freelancing since 2012 its sixth year '' in the industrial! Born in December 1946, of all my years of reading and studying, I got. Parts would not need to be installed with the public was scrapped there most them. With communications problems dragging on, the practice countdown was held CM 014 may simply.