Proposal: Apollo 1 Fire
The proposed paper will be on the Apollo 1 fire that occurred on January 27, 1967, and took the lives of Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. The paper will cover the unsafe conditions of Apollo 1 leading to the fire and the impact the fire had on safety regulations relating to the NASA program. Determining the conditions of the spacecraft that contributed to the uncontrollable fire will allow further understanding and research on the fire’s impacts. Due to the fire, NASA changed many safety regulations on their spacecraft to prevent such a tragic event from happening again.
The Apollo 1 design and the impact of the fire is a topic that should be studied as it shows how much NASA changed the safety regulations in their spacecraft after this incident. The Apollo 1 design included a three-part hatch that took 90 seconds to open, many combustible materials like Velcro, and nylon, and a 100 percent oxygenated atmosphere. One of the changes made was a new single, outward-opening hatch that could be opened in 3 seconds. Some other changes to the spacecraft’s design were adding fire-retardant materials, new fire-resistant spacesuits, and an oxygen and nitrogen mixed atmosphere as before it was a 100 percent oxygen atmosphere in the spacecraft. Being able to understand the significant changes that came from this fire shows how this incident led to many more NASA accomplishments, like building the new Block II design which included all these new changes and would be used for all manned flights, and NASA being able to put a man on the moon.
One of the major primary sources that demonstrates these angles of the Apollo 1 fire is the Apollo 204 Review Board Report. The review board was established on the day of the fire and its report was published on April 5, 1967. This report discusses the possible causes of the fire, such as the 100 percent oxygenated atmosphere, the complicated hatch, the huge amount of Velcro used, and the hazardous wiring system. Then, the report talks about the recommended changes that should be added to the spacecraft, such as a new easier-opening hatch, a nitrogen and oxygen mixed spacecraft atmosphere, and the usage of fire-retardant materials rather than so much Velcro that was used. Another major primary source that covers the Apollo 1 fire is newspapers. A newspaper published by The New York Times discusses how this incident was the first time American spacemen died on the job, specifically while still on the ground. This newspaper shows how impactful this fire is as this is the first such a situation that has occurred before. Another newspaper published by Anderson Sunday Herald mentions how this fire has delayed NASA’s moon project, the newspaper states that the delay is due to waiting for the investigation board to complete its report on the fire, then, spaceships must be redesigned, and then, finally, the spaceships would have to go through weeks of vehicle tests, and the astronauts would have to do their training.
Many secondary sources also highlight both the risk factors that the spacecraft had before the fire due to its design and the new safety measures that were added after the fire. An article published on AIP.org explains the unsafe conditions Apollo 1 had, like an extreme amount of Velcro and nylon. It also talked about how without this fire, NASA may have never put a man on the moon as safely as NASA was able to recognize many hazards due to this fire. Also, a case study done by John Carroll University on the flammability of fabrics showed how combustible the materials in Apollo 1 were, but also that the 100 percent oxygen atmosphere at least doubled the spread of the fire. Additionally, on NASA’s website, there is the Baron Report that goes over Thomas Baron’s concerns before the spacecraft even did a trial test and why he had such concerns due to the unsafeness of the spacecraft. Thomas Baron was a NASA safety inspector from 1965-1966 which gives more value to his report as he knew what to look for regarding spacecraft safety. Plus, the Congress hearings about the fire are available on NASA’s website which provides the government’s perspective on this fire and how they reacted to the Apollo 204 Review Board Report. Lastly, the “Apollo 1: The Tragedy That Put Us on The Moon” book goes into immense detail about the Apollo 1 design, the days leading up to and following the fire, the timeline of Apollo 1’s design, and the investigation process. This book also goes over the history of the space program, the personalities and lives of the three astronauts that were in the fire, the events leading up to the fire, the investigation process, and how the government was involved through the investigation process and Congress hearings.
Annotated Bibliography
Anderson, Herald, “Apollo Fire Will Delay Moon Project”, Anderson Sunday Herald, January 29, 1967. https://www.newspapers.com/image/26629058/?clipping_id=26549537&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjI2NjI5MDU4LCJpYXQiOjE3MzA0NjkzODIsImV4cCI6MTczMDU1NTc4Mn0.x9kDOM9lBgpM2b6OVdjVnJmEdj5zUrpf7baaojGorrg.
This newspaper goes over the reasons why the Apollo project will be delayed due to the investigation process and having to take the time to implement all the new changes. This source shows the impact the fire had as it delayed NASA in keeping its project timeline on schedule.
Baron, Thomas R. “Baron Report. “NASA. February 3, 2003.https://www.nasa.gov/history/Apollo204/barron.html.
This report gives an insight into the communication problems Apollo 1 was having and recommendations on how to fix those problems along with how to form a better task force for NASA. This source gives recommendations to better NASA after the fire had occurred.
Campbell, Mark. “The Apollo 1 Fire.” Aerospace Medical Association. January 1,2017.https://docserver.ingentaconnect.com/deliver/connect/asma/23756314/v88n1/s17.pdf?expires=1730481293&id=0000&titleid=72010555&checksum=5222E53B24EE46542B818C8EC7291C61&host=https://www.ingentaconnect.com
This article goes into detail about how several fires in high-oxygen environments occurred before this incident. It also brought up the Apollo 204 Review Board Report and what they found to be the five main causes of this fire, as well as the Block II design.
Dilisi, Gregory. “The Apollo 1 Fire: A Case Study in the Flammability of Fabrics, with Supplemental Material for On-Line Appendix.” Carroll Collected. Accessed October 23, 2024. https://collected.jcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=fac_bib_2019.
This case study explains experiments done on combustible materials that were used inside Apollo 1. The results are stated in the study and show how unsafe the Apollo 1’s materials were.
Emmanuelli, Matteo. “The Apollo 1 Fire.” Space Safety Magazine. Accessed October 23, 2024.https://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/space-disasters/apollo-1-fire/.
This article goes over the potential causes of the fire , the investigation that took place, and the new design features NASA added after the Apollo 1 incident, specifically, the less oxygenated atmosphere and the new hatch they designed.
Gray, Norris. “Report Of Apollo 204 Review Board.” NASA. April 5, 1967.https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/Apollo204/appendices/AppendixD12-17.pdf.
This report gives an extreme amount of detail about NASA’s findings and evidence after the fire happened. It also discussed recommendations and new changes to future spacecraft to prevent this incident from happening again.
Hollingham, Richard. “The Fire That May Have Saved the Apollo Programme.” BBC. January 26, 2017.https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170125-the-fire-may-have-saved-the-apollo-programme.
The author of this article talks about the initial fire timeline, the causes, the investigation, and the redesign of the spacecraft. The article includes great detail about the cause and timeline of the fire and wraps up with how that led to the redesign of the spacecraft and what areas were improved.
Jarreau, J. S. and Jeanne L. Amy. “The Investigation of Domestic Commercial Space Accidents by the United States.” The Air and Space Lawyer 36, no. 2 (2024): 1-19. https://www.proquest.com/docview/3058546527?accountid=12299&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals.
This academic journal talks about the Apollo 204 Review Board and then goes into detail about other space accident investigations, such as the Challenger, which allows the reader to compare how NASA investigates each of the accidents that have occurred.
Mandel, Savannah. “Trial by Fire: The Legacy of Apollo 1 | American Institute of Physics.”AIP.ORG. Accessed October 21, 2024.https://www.aip.org/news/trial-fire-legacy-apollo-1.
This author starts their article about the fire background but then goes into detail about the Apollo 204 Review Board and their investigation that led to newer spacecraft designs. It also includes a statement from the NASA flight director and how he took accountability for the incident.
New York Times. “NASA Aide Briefed On Apollo 1 Blast.” ProQuest. February 3, 1967.https://www.proquest.com/docview/118141684?accountid=12299&pq-origsite=primo&parentSessionId=9pWmyVgjxLTkRJto52Xbz8zq6hh3PvwpBmYI40ItSJU%3D&sourcetype=Historical%20Newspapers.
This newspaper article discusses the investigation and the involvement of government officials, allowing readers to see how impactful the fire was as Congress was heavily involved.
Orloff, Richard W. Apollo by the Numbers. Washington, DC: NASA History Division Office of Policy and Plans NASA Headquarters, 2000. https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/sp-4029.pdf.
This book gives an extremely detailed timeline of the fire from the time it started, when/how the deaths occurred, and up until they disassembled the spacecraft. It also gives different angles on each potential cause of the fire and how the unsafe conditions affected the fire.
Ostovar, Michele. “NASA Response to Findings, Determinations, and Recommendations of the Apollo 204 Review Board.” NASA. October 22, 2004. https://www.nasa.gov/missions/apollo/apollo-1/nasa-response-to-findings/.
This article from NASA goes over some of the new procedures and spacecraft modifications that were put into place by the review board. This gives a simplified list of the new safety measures which easily shows how impactful the fire was on the new safety measures.
United Press International. “Magazine Says Engineer Warned on Apollo 1 Fires.” ProQuest.September 13, 1971. https://www.proquest.com/docview/119092815?pq-origsite=primo&accountid=12299&sourcetype=Historical%20Newspapers.
This newspaper article talks about an engineer who worked at a Spacecraft center and how he had several concerns about Apollo 1’s design and spoke up about it months before the incident. This shows how unsafe the conditions must have been but that NASA wanted to meet their goal of landing on the moon eventually.
Uri, John. “55 Years Ago: The Apollo 1 Fire and its Aftermath.” NASA. February 3, 2022.https://www.nasa.gov/history/55-years-ago-the-apollo-1-fire-and-its-aftermath/.
This article from NASA explains how quickly the investigation and review board started working. On top of that, it explained the Block 1 design of the Apollo 1 spacecraft versus the new Block 2 design that was going to be used. This source also has a ton of photographs relating to evidence, the new design for future spacecraft, and more.
U.S. Government Printing Office. “Apollo Accident, Hearing ….” Office of Safety and Mission Assurance. February 27, 1967. https://sma.nasa.gov/SignificantIncidents/assets/apollo-1-hearing.pdf
This senate hearing on the Apollo fire gives very intricate details on the possible fire hazards of the spacecraft and the immediate steps taken after the incident including the investigation and development of the review board.
Walters, Ryan. Apollo 1: The Tragedy That Put Us On The Moon. Washington, DC: Regnery History, 2021.
This book gives an immense amount of detail regarding the history of NASA, the individual lives of the astronauts, the timeline of the fire, the investigation, and the politics behind it all.
Ward, Jonathan. Rocket Ranch: The Nuts and Bolts of the Apollo Moon Program at Kennedy Space Center. Heidelberg, Springer, 2015.
This book goes over the vehicle tests the spacecraft went through before the “plug-ins” test that the fire occurred during. It also has several diagrams to show the spacecraft’s design and mentions how there were several failures noticed during the “plug-ins” test before the fire occurred, but NASA just continued the test after not being able to identify the origin of the problems.
I hereby declare upon my word of honor that I have neither given nor received unauthorized help on this work.
Izabelle Stuchell