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Post by Jaga on Jan 27, 2017 20:16:57 GMT -7
I was too young to remember that the first tragedy happened before the moon was even reached: www.space.com/35481-three-stars-commemorate-apollo-1.htmlApollo 1: Three Stars Commemorate a Sad Anniversary Today (Jan. 27) is a sad day for NASA, marking the 50th anniversary of when a flash fire occurred during a launch-pad test of the Apollo/Saturn space vehicle, which was being prepared for its first piloted flight. Astronauts Virgil I "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White II and Roger B. Chaffee lost their lives when a fire swept through the command module, or "CM." A nearly 10-week investigation determined that an electrical spark, occurring in an environment rich in pure oxygen inside the command module, ignited the fire. The blaze occurred during the early evening hours of Jan. 27, 1967 — also a Friday — at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 34. The flight of Apollo 1 was to be the first crewed mission of the Apollo program, with the ultimate goal of landing astronauts on the moon and returning them safely to Earth. Apollo 1 was scheduled to fly on a two-week mission on Feb. 21, 1967, but the tragic accident set America's space program back by some 20 months. Today, the country can pause and remember these three heroic men who helped the United States take the first steps on its path to the moon. And in this evening's night sky, three stars will, in a way, serve as a commemoration of those lost astronauts. [Remembering the Apollo 1 Fire (Infographic)]
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Post by karl on Jan 28, 2017 6:06:56 GMT -7
Jaga
I do remember the news at that time, but had not given it much thought then. Now of course the full tragedy of that terrible event sinks in as three men died in that fire.
Thank you for the reminder
Karl
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Post by Jaga on Jan 29, 2017 0:00:54 GMT -7
Karl,
I remembered that the tragedy happened, but I did not realize that it was before the successful attempt to go to the moon. It re-evaluate my view at Armstrong and Collins as heroes... after the tragic accident, who really wanted to risk their lives... but they had to.
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Post by kaima on Jan 29, 2017 0:08:58 GMT -7
Karl, I remembered that the tragedy happened, but I did not realize that it was before the successful attempt to go to the moon. It re-evaluate my view at Armstrong and Collins as heroes... after the tragic accident, who really wanted to risk their lives... but they had to. in 1967 I was either in the university or the army and remember the shock of the accident. NASA was the best we had technically, and they made a mistake that cost lives. That was quite a shock. Later when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded my nephew was devastated by the loss, comparing it to the Kennedy assassination (at which time he was about 3). By then I took it a lot more casually, as it was a pioneering and exploration adventure, and both pioneers and explorers risk their lives. This time bad fortune caught up with them. I still have that fatal attitude, as I have seen / read of too many "best in the world" killed by ill fortune, say an avalanche rolling where it had never rolled in the last 200 years... and it happens too often. But that is the price of life. Kai
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Post by JustJohn or JJ on Jan 29, 2017 9:50:17 GMT -7
Jaga I do remember the news at that time, but had not given it much thought then. Now of course the full tragedy of that terrible event sinks in as three men died in that fire. Thank you for the reminder Karl I do remember it well. It was very tragic and caught your thoughts about the space program. Kai, I was sitting in a bar in Trinidad watching the Challenger launch. When it exploded. It devastated my emotions at the moment and tears welled up in my eyes. The nice lady tending the bar couldn't understand why I was having this emotional display. What she didn't know is that Christa McAuliffe was my daughters teacher at the time and I knew how she would be feeling. Sharon Christa McAuliffe (September 2, 1948 – January 28, 1986) was an American teacher from Concord, New Hampshire.
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Post by Jaga on Jan 29, 2017 12:39:36 GMT -7
John, you were sitting in a bar in Trinidad? What a coincidence with your daughter's teacher? Yes, it is also a Challenger's anniversary today.
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