Apollo 1

Lore & Background

Immediately after the fire, NASA convened an Accident Review Board to determine the cause of the fire, and both chambers of the United States Congress conducted their own committee inquiries to oversee NASA's investigation. The ignition source of the fire was determined to be electrical, and the fire spread rapidly due to combustible nylon material and the high-pressure pure oxygen cabin atmosphere. Rescue was prevented by the plug door hatch, which could not be opened against the internal pressure of the cabin. Because the rocket was unfueled, the test had not been considered hazardous, and emergency preparedness for it was poor.

During the congressional investigation, Senator Walter Mondale publicly revealed a NASA internal document citing problems with prime Apollo contractor North American Aviation, which became known as the Phillips Report. This disclosure embarrassed NASA administrator James E. Webb, who was unaware of the document's existence, and attracted controversy to the Apollo program. Despite congressional displeasure at NASA's lack of openness, both congressional committees ruled that the issues raised in the report had no bearing on the accident.

Crewed Apollo flights were suspended for twenty months while the command module's hazards were addressed. The development and uncrewed testing of the lunar module and Saturn V rocket continued. The Saturn IB launch vehicle for Apollo 1, AS-204, was used for the first LM test flight, Apollo 5. The first successful crewed Apollo mission was flown by Apollo 1's backup crew on Apollo 7 in October 1968.

Common Misconceptions (Editorial)

Some people think the Apollo 1 crew did not choose the mission's name themselves, but the facts confirm the crew selected "Apollo 1" and NASA made it official after the fire in their honor. Another misconception is that the Phillips Report directly caused or was linked to the accident; however, both congressional committees ruled that the issues in the report had no bearing on the fire.

Why It Matters (Editorial)

Apollo 1 endures as a sobering reminder that human spaceflight's greatest advances are often bought with the lives of its pioneers. The disaster forced NASA to fundamentally reexamine spacecraft safety, halting crewed flights for twenty months and leading to design changes that ultimately made later Apollo missions successful. The crew's choice to name their mission Apollo 1, and NASA's decision to honor that name, ensures their sacrifice is remembered as the beginning of the program's journey to the Moon.

Reader's Guide

The crew consisted of Command Pilot Gus Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White, and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee. The first backup crew (April–December 1966) was James McDivitt, David Scott, and Russell Schweickart. The second backup crew (December 1966 – January 1967) was Walter Schirra, Donn F. Eisele, and Walter Cunningham. The mission was to test launch operations, ground tracking and control facilities, and the performance of the Apollo-Saturn launch assembly, lasting up to two weeks.

The command module for this flight, number 012 built by North American Aviation, was a Block I version lacking the capability of docking with the lunar module. The spacecraft carried a small television camera to broadcast live from the command module. The mission patch, designed by the crew, depicts a command and service module flying over the southeastern United States with Florida prominent, the Moon in the distance, and a yellow border with mission and astronaut names.