FATAL APOLLO 1 FIRE ON THIS DATE IN 1967

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Apollo 1 (official designation Apollo/Saturn-204) was planned to be the first manned mission of the Apollo lunar landing program, set to launch in February 1967. Its flight was precluded by a fatal fire which killed all three crew members (Command Pilot Virgil “Guss” Grissom (center), Senior Pilot Edward H. White (left), and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee (right), and destroyed the Command Module cabin(pictured below). This occurred during a pre-launch test of the spacecraft on Launch Pad 34 at Cape Canaveral. The name Apollo 1, chosen by the crew, was officially assigned retroactively in commemoration of them.  

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                              Charred remains of the Apollo 1 command module

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posted by Bob Karm in ANNIVERSARY,DEATH,HISTORY,Science,SPACE and have No Comments