Apollo 1: How a Pure Oxygen Cabin Fire Killed Three Astronauts

Three astronauts died in the Apollo 1 fire on January 27, 1967, during a pre-launch test of their new space capsule. Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee never reached space.

The test

The three walked out to face the cameras on a cold January morning before the tests began. Grissom, described as one of the heroes of the American space program, led Chaffee and White to the launch tower in the afternoon. Once the men were inside, the capsule would be pressurized with pure oxygen.

A day already going badly

Communications between mission control and the capsule kept breaking down. At one point Grissom remarked on how they were going to talk to somebody on the Moon if they could not talk between two or three buildings at the Cape. A witness recalled great confusion on the intercom loop, then a call of something like fire in the spacecraft.

The hatch

The hatch was not designed to be opened quickly. It took 5 minutes, and by then all three astronauts were dead. NASA was left in shock, facing criticism and wild speculation about what had happened.

The inquiry

NASA launched an inquiry. It found that the capsule, which everyone knew would have a pure oxygen atmosphere, had been packed with unprotected electrical cabling surrounded by highly combustible materials. One interviewee said the cabin was full of Velcro, because the astronauts wanted to stick things to the walls and consoles so they would not float around. He said that this traps oxygen, and that a flame would make it almost literally explode.

There has never been a full explanation of how the fire was allowed to happen. Officially, the finger was pointed at managers who failed to manage and engineers who did not think things through.