The Apollo 1 Tragedy

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We have all heard of the Apollo 11 mission. One of the biggest success es in mankind, when we managed to put a man on the moon.

But this wasnt an overnight success. There were failures along the way, some of them fatal. Apollo 1, the first of such missions, was one of them.

On February 21st 1967, a cabin fire during a launch rehearsal destroyed the spacecraft, killing the 3 crew members in it.

Cause of the fire

After investigation into the incident, following major causes came up.

• A pure oxygen atmosphere in the cabin.
• The cabin was sealed with a hatch cover that could not be released quickly.
• Bad wiring in the spacecraft most probably acted as the ignition source.
• Flammable substances like Velcro were present all over the spacecraft, close to potential ignition sources.

The worst part is that the crew had expressed concerns over the safety of the spacecraft before, especially about the amount of flammable materials used. Thr spacecraft still received a passing grade. If only better precautionary measures would have been taken, their lives would have been spared.

There sacrifice was not in vain. The tradegy was followed by a huge fallout for NASA and they hugely increased their standards for safety.

Here’s a quote by Gus Grissom, the captain of the Apollo 1 crew.

We are in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us, it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life.

This story is part of my 365 Day Project for 2019. Read about it here

Yesterday’s blog — The Zen To Done method for productivity