(Photo : Central Press/Getty Images)
Crew Of Apollo 1
28th January 1967: The three man crew of the Apollo 1 spacecraft who were all killed during a rehearsal when fire swept the Saturn rocket on its launch pad at Cape Kennedy. From l to r; Lt Col Edward White (1930 - 1967) (who made America's first space walk), Lt Cmdr Roger Chaffee (who had never flown in space) and Lt Col Virgil Grissom (who was the first American to make two flights).
The Apollo 1 Tragedy left the crew of three dead from a cabin fire that killed them, where no one survived with their screams as the last thing heard from them.
The crew was heard via the coms was 'we're burning up!' as the fire raged in the oxygenated cabin.
During the launch rehearsal, no one expected the freak accident that killed the crew, which nearly ended the space program on its first mission.
United States, USSR Race to the Moon
In the 1960s, the Space Race was in full swing as the USSR and the United States, hoping they'd land the first human-crewed lunar mission, reported the Daily Star.
One of these programs is the Apollo mission to develop the technology to send humans to the moon and back. Called AS-2014, or Apollo 1, it was set for blastoff on February 21, 1967, sending a human-crewed capsule on a low earth orbital test of the Apollo command and service module, cited Techno Trenz.
This planned mission was shelved when earlier on January 27, three astronauts were torched alive inside the cabin.
The crew, including Gus Grissom, Ed White, Roger B. Chaffee, were killed when the capsule cabin lit up in an oxygenated flame. They were screaming how they were burned inside their spacesuits.
During lift-off practice, the three were inside the capsule while simulating how a rocket would react to the actual mission. At 1 pm, the unfortunate crew of the Apollo 1 would board the capsule that day; at about five hours and thirty minutes, it would take a deathly turn.
Read Also: Artemis Accord: The Outer Space Treaty for Peace on the Moon
At exactly 6:30 pm, the technicians noticed more oxygen fed to the cabin with increased pressure. Next from the coms was heard 'fire' in scratchy audio, noted Bnew Tech.
Apollo 1 Crew Dies During Rehearsal
A fire was seeping outside of the capsule from the inside of the cabin and engulfed it in flames. According to the last transmission, the crew was panicking; they said there was fire and tried to escape. Last was screaming they were cooked alive inside. For five seconds, screams and pain.
Attempts by the engineers to open the capsule failed, as mission control had front seats to the deaths of the crew as video captured their deaths by burning alive.
In five minutes, the door was forced open, and bellowing heat and smoke greeted the rescuers. It was too late to save the astronauts whose burnt remains were encased in the space suits; they died on the spot.
Investigating the Apollo 1 tragedy
The cause of the deadly accident was examined and how everything led to the terrible turn of events. The fire was traced to a wire located to the pipe connected to the urine collection system that had a problem.
Furthermore, the flames lapped at their feet that were not seen from their position with no chance to do something. Due to the pure oxygen and the material which caught flame would be no escape for them, in only ten seconds to ignite the cabin in flames.
Other causes of death were toxic gas and suffocation from the smoke inside when the oxygen hoses got cut.
The Apollo 1 tragedy led to better safety for astronauts before NASA authorized the first spaceflights, and Apollo 11 was sent to the moon.
Related Article: US Apollo 11 Beats Russian Luna 15 To Land on the Moon in a Secret Lunar Race in 1969
