Portrait of the Apollo 1 prime crew for first Apollo space flight. From left to right are: Edward H. White II, Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, and Roger B. Chaffee. Their assignment to this crew was announced on March 21, 1965.
Portrait of the Apollo 1 prime crew for first Apollo space flight. From left to right are: Edward H. White II, Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, and Roger B. Chaffee. Their assignment to this crew was announced on March 21, 1965.
On January 27, 1967 at 6:31 p.m. EST during a routine simulated launch test onboard the Apollo Saturn I rocket, an electrical short circuit inside the Apollo Command Module ignited the pure oxygen environment and within a matter of seconds all three Apollo 1 crewmembers perished.
Image Credit: NASA
Image #: S66-30236
Date: March 31, 1966