In the 1960s, the United States’ NASA carried out the Apollo program, the third of its manned human spaceflight programs. The goal of the program was to achieve manned exploration of the Moon and retake the lead in the Space Race against the Soviets, who had beaten the US to the first satellite and human in space, and convince the American public of the superiority of the US’ technological capability. After three unmanned flights, mission AS-204 (named Apollo 1 by the crew, and officially changed after the tragedy in their honour) was staffed with two NASA veterans, Command Pilot Grissom and Senior Pilot White, and one newbie, Pilot Chaffee. The aim of the mission was to verify crew operations and system performance. The disaster did not occur
…show more content…
At approximately 2:45pm the test was reset. At 6:20pm the T-10 minutes count was initiated, but at 6:30pm the T-10 minutes count held while the control team resolved the communications issue. At 6:31pm the crew reported a fire in the command module. The command module then ruptured and flames spread through to the heat shield level, leading personnel to believe it was about to explode, resulting in abandoned rescue efforts and evacuating the floor. It took around five minutes to open all hatches, by which point, the astronauts had died of carbon monoxide asphyxiation. Firefighters arrived on the scene three minutes later. The main causes of the disaster were identified as: 1. Sealed cabin with a pure oxygen, highly pressurised atmosphere 2. Cabin extensively containing combustible materials, which created dense smoke endangering pad personnel and impeding rescue efforts 3. Ignition source from exposed silver-plated ECU wiring reacting with leak from an ethylene glycol/water line (flammable coolant) 4. Inadequate escape procedure due to time-consuming hatch design 5. Inadequate emergency response provisions and
At approximately 2:45pm the test was reset. At 6:20pm the T-10 minutes count was initiated, but at 6:30pm the T-10 minutes count held while the control team resolved the communications issue. At 6:31pm the crew reported a fire in the command module. The command module then ruptured and flames spread through to the heat shield level, leading personnel to believe it was about to explode, resulting in abandoned rescue efforts and evacuating the floor. It took around five minutes to open all hatches, by which point, the astronauts had died of carbon monoxide asphyxiation. Firefighters arrived on the scene three minutes later. The main causes of the disaster were identified as: 1. Sealed cabin with a pure oxygen, highly pressurised atmosphere 2. Cabin extensively containing combustible materials, which created dense smoke endangering pad personnel and impeding rescue efforts 3. Ignition source from exposed silver-plated ECU wiring reacting with leak from an ethylene glycol/water line (flammable coolant) 4. Inadequate escape procedure due to time-consuming hatch design 5. Inadequate emergency response provisions and