Apollo 1 Remembered 45 Years Later

Photo Credit: Julian Leek/Blue Sawtooth Studios

Family, friends and coworkers paid respects to the crew of Apollo 1 who lost their lives in a fire that broke out in the spacecraft. “The Fire” as it came to be known, was the first, major accident in the space agency’s history – and its first major test. 

On Jan. 27, 1967, during a “plugs-out” test at Launch Complex 34, a fire broke out in the Apollo 1 spacecraft – killing all three crew members. Veteran Mercury and Gemini astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward White, the first U.S. astronaut to conduct a spacewalk and rookie astronaut Roger Chaffee – perished in a blaze that broke out in the capsule. 

In the end, the Apollo 1 tragedy caused NASA to stop and refocus its efforts and within two-and-a-half years the United States landed two men – on another world. However, the six missions that successfully landed on our world’s nearest celestial neighbor were not the focus of this evening’s activities – the men that lost there lives in the pursuit of this dream – were.

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Posts associated with the Apollo missions

Posts associated with the Apollo 1 mission

  • “Let’s Get Out!” Remembering The Fire, OTD in 1967
  • “The Slightest Glitch”: Remembering The Fire, OTD in 1967
  • The Slightest Glitch: Remembering Apollo 1, OTD in 1967
  • Remembering The Fire, Project Apollo’s Worst Day
  • ‘Isn’t That Enough?’ Remembering Grissom, White and Chaffee, Fallen Crew of Apollo 1
  • Grissom, White, and Chaffee: On 50th Anniversary of Apollo 1 Fire, America Remembers
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  • The ‘No Sense’ Mission: 50 Years Since the Rise and Fall of Apollo 2 (Part 1)
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  • Gus Grissom: Remembering NASA’s ‘Forgotten’ Astronaut
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  • Remembering Apollo 1
  • Canaveral’s Hidden Treasure: The Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Public Tour
  • AmericaSpace Exclusive: Gen. Thomas P. Stafford Interview
  • Phoenix From The Ashes: The Fall and Rise of Pad 34 (Part 2)
  • Phoenix From The Ashes: The Fall and Rise of Pad 34
  • Challenger Learning Centers: Opening Young Minds to Wonders of Space
  • Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex’s ‘Then & Now’ Tour
  • Apollo Program Fondly Remembered by Those Who Made it a Reality
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  • Apollo 1 Remembered 45 Years Later
    • Missions » Apollo »

    Posts associated with the Apollo mission

  • “A Couple Weeks Later”: Remembering Apollo 16’s (Almost-Not) Moon Landing, OTD in 1972
  • Remembering Tom Stafford, the Space Race’s Peacemaker (1930-2024)
  • “Let’s Get Out!” Remembering The Fire, OTD in 1967
  • When a Man Grows a Beard: Remembering Apollo 7, OTD in 1968
  • Lost Moon: Reconstructing the Missions of Apollos 18, 19, and 20 (Part 2)
  • Lost Moon: Reconstructing the Missions of Apollos 18, 19, and 20 (Part 1)
  • “The Slightest Glitch”: Remembering The Fire, OTD in 1967
  • Walt Cunningham, Last Apollo 7 Crewman, Dies Aged 90
  • “We Shall Return”: Remembering Apollo 17, 50 Years On
  • “Lighting Up the Sky”: Remembering Apollo 17’s Artificial Dawn, 50 Years On
  • Into the Lunar Mountains: Remembering Apollo 16, 50 Years On
  • The Slightest Glitch: Remembering Apollo 1, OTD in 1967
  • A Very Unique Place: Remembering the First Deep-Space EVA, Five Decades On
  • Riding a Giant Spring: Remembering Apollo 9, OTD in 1969
  • We Shall Return: Remembering Apollo 17’s Departure from the Moon, OTD in 1972
  • ‘SCE to Aux’: Remembering Apollo 12’s Hair-Raising Launch, OTD in 1969
  • ‘As It Really Was’: Remembering Apollo 7, OTD in 1968
  • Landing in “The Drink”: Remembering America’s Oceanic Returns from Space (Part 2)
  • Game of Solitaire: Remembering Apollo 13’s Lost Moonwalks, 50 Years On (Part 2)
  • ‘Driven By Confidence’: Remembering Apollo 13’s Lost Moonwalks, 50 Years On (Part 1)
  • ‘Our Finest Hour’: Remembering Apollo 13, 50 Years On (Part 4)
  • ‘Up to You Now’: Remembering Apollo 13, 50 Years On (Part 3)
  • ‘We Have a Problem’: Remembering Apollo 13, 50 Years On (Part 2)
  • ‘Bored to Tears’: Remembering Apollo 13, 50 Years On (Part 1)
  • Apollo 15 Veteran Al Worden Dies at 88
  • Remembering The Fire, Project Apollo’s Worst Day
  • ‘For One Priceless Moment’: Celebrating Apollo 11, 50th Anniversary Month (Part 4)
  • ‘The Eagle Has Landed’: Celebrating Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Month (Part 3)
  • ‘Except That It Is Moving’: Celebrating Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Month (Part 2)
  • ‘Launch Commit’: Celebrating Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Month (Part 1)
  • ‘We Have Arrived’: Remembering Apollo 10, 50 Years On (Part 3)
  • “We Didn’t Know the Questions”: Remembering Apollo 10, 50 Years On (Part 2)
  • ‘It’s Been A Long Way’: Remembering the Return of the Rookie, 50 Years On
  • ‘More Confidence Than Ever’: Remembering Apollo 9, Launched 50 Years Ago (Part 2)
  • ‘Not Supposed To Happen’: Remembering Apollo 9, 50 Years On (Part 1)
  • ‘Isn’t That Enough?’ Remembering Grissom, White and Chaffee, Fallen Crew of Apollo 1
  • ‘Yabadabadoo’: 50 Years Since Apollo 7 Brought America’s Lunar Goal Closer (Part 2)
  • Riding the ‘Big Maumoo’: 50 Years Since Apollo 7 Brought America’s Lunar Goal Closer (Part 1)
  • The Day the Saturn V Almost Failed: 50 Years Since Apollo 6
  • First to the Moon: Upcoming Documentary Film Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Apollo 8
  • New Evidence Suggests the Moon Holds More Water Than Ever Previously Believed
  • Intruders in a Foreign Land: 45 Years Since Apollo 16 Almost Didn’t Land on the Moon (Part 2)
  • Billy Rubin and Typhoid Mary: 45 Years Since Apollo 16 Almost Didn’t Land on the Moon (Part 1)
  • Buzz Aldrin Flies with the Thunderbirds over Kennedy Space Center
  • ‘More Confidence Than Ever’: Remembering the Trailblazing Mission of Apollo 9 (Part 2)
  • ‘Certainly Not Supposed to Happen’: Remembering the Trailblazing Mission of Apollo 9 (Part 1)
  • Grissom, White, and Chaffee: On 50th Anniversary of Apollo 1 Fire, America Remembers
  • The ‘No Sense’ Mission: 50 Years Since the Rise and Fall of Apollo 2 (Part 2)
  • The ‘No Sense’ Mission: 50 Years Since the Rise and Fall of Apollo 2 (Part 1)
  • On Challenger’s 30th Anniversary, NASA Reflects On its Fallen Heroes

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