January 27, 1967

 

The crew of Apollo 1 included veterans Edward White II (l.), Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom (center), and first-time crew member Roger Chafee (r.). A flash fire during a test of the new Apollo spacecraft claimed the lives of the three men on January 27, 1967. NASA photo.

 

The Apollo 1 astronauts during training. NASA photo.

 

Despite concerns about the many defects that cropped up in their Apollo spacecraft during testing, Grissom, White, and Chaffee (l. to r.) put on a brave face for the press and continued their work in preparing the capsule’s equipment and systems. The cause of the fire could not be pinpointed despite an exhaustive investigation, but appeared to be due to faulty wiring. NASA photo.