The terrible message sent by the crew of Apollo 1 before they died

This year marked the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 1 tragedy, as the first Apollo mission was called. U.S that was intended to take humans to the Moon, as a cabin fire killed all three crew members on board during a launch test.

As part of remembrance day, on January 27, the NASA honored the families of astronauts who lost their lives promoting exploration and discovery, including the crews of the Apolo 1 and the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia.

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The 1960s was a real space race between the United States and the Soviet Union, where the goal of the Americans was to be the first to take man to the Moon through the Apollo Program.

Initially designated AS-204, Apollo 1 was due to lift off on February 21, 1967, and would officially be the first Earth orbit test of the command and crew module.

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However, the mission never left since three weeks earlier, precisely on January 27, there was a fire in the cabin that burned all the members. The crew members were the command pilot Virgil Ivan ‘Gus’ Grissom, Senior Pilot Edward H. White II, and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee.

That fateful day, the crew was preparing for a takeoff simulated and they practiced one by one the steps that they would follow during the real mission. The three entered at 1:00 p.m. that day, but just five and a half hours later, the exercise took a very abrupt change that ended in tragedy.

The Apollo 1 crew poses in spacesuits at Launch Complex 34 at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in this December 12, 1966 file photo. (AFP PHOTO/NASA)

“We are burning!” was the last transmission that Apollo 1 did. At 6:30 p.m., the engineers controlling the mission noticed an increase in the flow of oxygen and Pressure inside the cabin, followed by a voice – not very clear – through the radio saying the word “fire”.

Seconds later, the fire that originated inside the cabin penetrated to the outside and the flames quickly engulfed the entire ship. Although the transmission was not clear and lasted only five seconds, the staff did perceive that there was panic and until today it is believed that the last words of the astronauts were those of the request for help.

late rescue

Engineers’ attempts to immediately open the hatch were in vain and doom settled inside the ship, as men in the control tower watched helplessly on live video.

Five minutes after the piercing scream, the emergency team was able to open the hatch and found themselves with very thick smoke and excessive heat. The crew almost died instantly.

Following the incident, an investigation was launched to find out what went wrong, and a review board determined that a cable on the tubing of the urine collection system was kinked. In this sense, the fire originated under the feet of the crew, so the position in which they were sitting and looking up did not allow them to act in time and react.

Interior of the capsule after the fire. (Photo: NASA).

Within ten seconds the entire ship went up in flames. The cabin interior was drenched with pure oxygen, and flammable material near the cable started the fire.

Then the tribulation’s oxygen hoses were severed and the men inhaled a large amount of toxic gases. They died in less than a minute and the official cause of death was asphyxiation due to smoke inhalation.

5th anniversary of the Apollo 1 tragedy. ‘Gus’ Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee were the victims. pic.twitter.com/7Enm1Hx0D6

– Rafasiz (@rafasith) January 27, 2022

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Source: Elcomercio