“Fire… fire in the cockpit.”

The Apollo 1 insignia

One of the most ludicrous claims of conspiracy theorists is that the Apollo missions were too dangerous to have ever existed, and the fact that “no one died” is proof that they were faked. Yet Apollo 1, the very first of the programme designed to land man on the moon, never even left the earth due to catastrophe – and its three astronauts died.

There was much expectation on Apollo 1. It would be the first manned flight of the Apollo spacecraft, albeit without the lunar module (which was costing more money and taking more time than anyone had imagined it would). Apollo 1 would also be the first three man flight, as the previous Gemini missions had been flown by only two.

Apollo 1 became a tragedy… and a lesson. There is a real chance that without the disastrous lessons learned on Apollo 1, the lunar landings may never have happened. Everyone at NASA, including the astronauts, expected – to an extent – that the Apollo missions would see astronaut death. But nobody expected three men would die during a routine test, while their spacecraft was firmly attached to terra firma.

Apollo 1: Grissom, White and Chaffee

The Apollo 1 prime crew. (L-R) Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee.

Selecting crew for the first Apollo flight was always going to be difficult, as it was an honour most of the astronauts desired. The actual selection process and crew rotation was something of an unknown legend within NASA, as none of the astronauts fully understood it. Some kind of rotation system seemed to be used, and for the majority of the Apollo missions a system of “back up crew, skip a flight, prime crew” would be employed (for example, Jim Lovell was back up for Apollo 11, then commanded the Apollo 13 mission). Yet with Apollo being new, and several astronauts having flown twice on Gemini while others hadn’t flown at all, no one could be sure.

In the end, the three man crew was announced to be:

• Virgil ‘Gus’ Grissom. Grissom was one of the Original 7 astronauts, and had flown both Mercury and Gemini missions. He was a bristly character; during the inquest into Apollo 1, fellow astronaut Frank Borman described him as a “son of a bitch”, but it was said with fondness. He was passionate about Apollo, and many believe that had he lived, he would have been the first man on the moon. Grissom was also an excellent pilot, and prior to his selection as an Original 7 astronaut, had been a commanded in the Air Force. He was the Command Pilot.
• Edward ‘Ed’ White. White already had this place in history; on Gemini 4, he’d become the first American to walk in space. He had been one of the “New Nine”, the second group of astronauts selected for the space programme, and was described as an all-American boy. Like Grissom, he was in the Air Force prior to astronaut selection. For Apollo 1, he was the Senior Pilot.
• Roger Chaffee. Unlike Grissom and White, Chaffee was in the US Navy before he was selected for the third astronaut group. Apollo 1 was to be his first flight, hence his position as Junior Pilot.

Liberty Bell 7 and Its Hatch

Gus Grissom with the 'Liberty Bell 7' spacecraft.

Grissom had been the second American in space, when he piloted Liberty Bell 7 on July 21st 1964. The mission itself went smoothly, until splashdown.

Upon landing in the ocean, the hatch (door) of the capsule burst open. The spacecraft quickly filled with water, and Grissom nearly drowned before eventually being rescued by helicopter – although the capsule itself sank. Initially, NASA insisted that the hatch could not open itself, and Grissom must have somehow triggered the emergency hydraulic release.

Grissom, however, insisted he had not done so and that there was a flaw with the hatch which had caused it to explode open – and nearly cost him his life. Triggering the hatch emergency explosive opening required hitting a metal frame with a closed fist, hard enough to bruise the skin; Grissom had no such bruise. Eventually, NASA agreed with him and determined the hatch had somehow opened by itself. The hatch was new for Liberty Bell 7, and was designed to – ironically – save an astronaut’s life in the event of emergency, as it allowed immediate exit. The design, however, was changed for all subsequent flights thanks to Grissom’s (correct) insistence that he had not triggered the explosive opening. From then on, all spacecraft would have manual opening hatches. The irony of this was to prove tragic.

Grissom, however, approached the incident with typical wry humour. When asked to name his Gemini 3 capsule, Grissom suggested Molly Brown, after the show The Unsinkable Molly Brown. NASA were aghast and requested a new name be conceived, and Grissom quickly suggested The Titanic. Seeing that Grissom’s gallows humour could not be ignored, they eventually agreed on Molly Brown. Unfortunately, Grissom’s dry sense of humour would eventually make him fodder for the conspiracy theorists.

Concerns over the Command Module

Apollo 1 was an entirely new spacecraft, designed by North American Aviation, and it was by no means the complete article. North American had suggested an explosive hatch allowing for quick exit in case of emergency, but NASA had overruled them following the Liberty Bell 7 problem (see above). The astronauts, however, were not convinced, and many lobbied for an explosive hatch on future command modules; but it was too late to change the design of Apollo 1.

Grissom, White and Chaffee pose praying over the Command Module, following concerns over its safety.

North American also proposed that the cabin be compressed with a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, as the atmosphere on earth is. NASA disagreed, stressing concerns over decompression sickness and problems with nitrogen control. As a pure oxygen environment had been used on the previous Mercury and Gemini missions, the same was agreed upon for Apollo.

The problems did not end there, and lead to Grissom taking a lemon from his home and telling his wife he was going to hang it on the command module. Further evidence of Grissom’s humour, but something seized upon by conspiracy theorists. There were concerns about fire hazards and communication, but nevertheless the mission launch date of February 21st 1967 was confirmed. All they needed to do was run the usual on-ground tests, and then Apollo would be ready to fly.

Plugs Out

Before a spacecraft leaves earth, there are numerous tests which must be completed. One of these is the “plugs out” test, which is a test to ensure the spacecraft can run off its own mechanics and electrical systems without ground support.

For the plugs out test, the spacecraft was simulated as it would be for lift off. The astronauts were in suits, the cabin was pressurised as it would be for flight, and the aircraft was on the launch pad with the tower alongside. The test was routine, and not classified as hazardous.

The Apollo 1 plugs out test took place on January 27th 1967, less than three weeks before the due launch. It was a long day of testing in an uncomfortable environment, and Grissom was unhappy. There were communications problems with mission control, and Grissom was heard to say: “how are we going to fly to the moon if we can’t talk between three buildings?”. While engineers attempted to fix the problems with the radio signal, all Grissom, White and Chaffee could do was wait.

Fire In The Cockpit

The charred remains of the Apollo 1 command module.

There are numerous phrases associated with the Apollo missions, but the most chilling is certainly “fire in the cockpit”.

At 6.31pm, Grissom shouted “fire!”. Due to the communications problems, those in mission control – including Deke Slayton, a good friend of Grissom’s who had also been recruited with the Original 7 astronaut group – didn’t understand. Slayton said “did he say fire?”

The worst was confirmed seconds later, amid frantic scuffling noises, when Chaffee was heard to say “we’ve got a fire in the cockpit”. White then shouted “fire in the cockpit!”. By this point, mission control understood.

At the tower next to the spacecraft, the engineers ran toward the command module only to discover they could not approach due to billowing smoke and heat. In mission control, some reported they could see White’s hand moving behind the window of the command module on the monitors. The last coherent words from the astronauts came ten seconds after the initial cry of fire, when Chaffee was heard to say: “We’ve got a bad fire, let’s get out, we’re burning up! We’re on fire, get us out of here!”

Following a cry of pain, transmission was lost just 17 seconds after the initial alert of fire, as the cabin ruptured.

Tragedy

It took five minutes for the ground crew to battle their way to the command module, following fears that the fire would rupture the rockets of the Saturn V engine. Removing the hatch proved to be a laborious process that took over a minute. What the ground crew found inside was a scene of tragedy; badly burned, Grissom, White and Chaffee lay inside unmistakably dead. Chaffee, on the far side of the hatch, was still in his seat. Though all three astronauts suffered third degree burns, the cause of death was eventually determined to be asphixiation due to smoke inhalation.

“Why Did This Happen?”

An inquiry into the deaths of three brilliant pilots was launched immediately. A spark was decided to have ignited the fire, which spread so quickly due to the 100% oxygen atmosphere in the command module. To make it worse, the command module was pressurised for spaceflight, at a PSI that would have made aluminium burn like kindling, and an excessive use of velcro had increased flammability.

The cause of the spark was never formally identified.

Ad Astra Per Aspera

Following the fire, the Apollo programme was massively changed. As well as changing the procedures for the plugs out test, other aspects such as space suit design and the command module hatch and pressurisation were altered. The cause of the spark of the fire has never been formally identified, though theories include loose wiring and damaged copper wiring.

If there had not been the accident on Liberty Bell 7, the command module would have likely had an explosive hatch and the astronauts may have been able to get out when the Apollo 1 command module caught fire. This, however, is speculation due to the speed of the fire – but the irony of Grissom being proved right on the Liberty Bell issue, and thus the explosive hatch being discontinued, is too painful for words.

Oddly, it was Grissom’s words that helped save the Apollo programme. Following his Gemini 3 flight, Grissom had answered a question on how the space programme should continue should an astronaut die:

“If we die, we want people to accept it. We are in a risky business and we hope that if anything happens to us, it will not delay the programme. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life.”

Apollo 1 was an horrific lesson for NASA to learn, and three men died due to faults that should have easily been avoided.

Mountains on the moon are named after the Apollo 1 astronauts, and all three men received the Congressional Space Medal of Honour posthumously.

A memorial plaque to the Apollo 1 crew, which sits on the launch pad of the site.