A Ringside View of the Moon Shots, Part 4: Roads Taken and Not Taken

On March 16, 1966, Astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and David R. Scott sit with their spacecraft hatches open while awaiting the arrival of the recovery ship, the USS Leonard F. Mason (DD 582) after the Gemini-8 mission was terminated early because of a thruster malfunction and they landed in the Pacific instead of the Atlantic as planned. They are assisted by U.S Air Force pararescue personnel, Airman 1st Class Glenn M. Moore, Airman 1st Class Eldridge M. Neal, and Staff Sgt. Larry D. Huyett. The overhead view shows the Gemini-8 spacecraft with the yellow flotation collar attached to stabilize the spacecraft in choppy seas. The green marker dye is highly visible from the air and is used as a locating aid. (NASA photo S66-18602 via NHHC Photo Curator/Flickr)

By Steve Milner
Contributing Writer

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention some of the key milestones that enabled our first manned lunar landing. For example, there were five more solo astronaut Mercury flights after Alan Shepard’s and 10 two-man Gemini missions. Mercury showed that our astronauts could function in space, and Gemini perfected rendezvous and docking techniques and measured the effects of longer-duration flights. These flights paved the way for our nation’s six manned lunar landings.

On January 28, 1967, the Apollo 1 prime crew members for the first crewed Apollo Mission (AS-204) prepare to enter their spacecraft inside the altitude chamber at the Kennedy Space Center. Entering the hatch is astronaut Virgil I. Grissom, commander; behind him is astronaut Roger B. Chaffee, pilot; standing at the left with chamber technicians is astronaut Edward H. White II, senior pilot. (NASA photo S67-21294 via NASA on the Commons/ Flickr)

But an unforeseen tragedy threatened the survival of the Apollo program: the Apollo 1 spacecraft’s flash fire that occurred January 27, 1967, during a test at the Cape’s Launch Complex 34. It took the lives of veteran astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom and Edward White, and rookie Roger Chaffee. The Apollo 1 spacecraft fire and the loss of our three astronauts greatly affected that launch team and support personnel throughout our close-knit community.

Officially designated Apollo/Saturn 204, but more commonly known as Apollo 1, this close-up view of the interior of the Command Module on January 28, 1967, shows the effects of the intense heat of the flash fire which killed the prime crew during a routine training exercise. While strapped into their seats inside the Command Module atop the Saturn IB rocket, a spark ignited the pure oxygen environment. The speed and intensity of the fire quickly exhausted the oxygen supply inside the crew cabin. Unable to open the hatch due to its cumbersome design, the crew lost consciousness and perished. They were: astronauts Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, (the second American to fly into space) Edward H. White II, (the first American to conduct a space walk) and Roger B. Chaffee, (a "rookie" on his first space mission). (NASA on the Commons/ Flickr)

But in a “what-if” scenario, one that I’ve thought about many times since the Apollo 1 fire 52 years ago, I’ve always wondered if this tragedy could have been averted. I say this because earlier that day, my former roommate and local aerospace newspaper reporter, John Wasik, tried to convince NASA engineers to postpone the test. He based his unusual request on information he had received from Thomas Baron, who had worked for North American Aviation, the Command Module’s prime contractor, who said that company’s spacecraft was unsafe. But the test went on as planned, and following an extensive investigation after the fire, NASA dismissed Baron as a disgruntled former employee. I still have recurring questions regarding Baron’s safety claims, especially because Grissom had hung a lemon on his spacecraft, and a later investigation showed there was shoddy spacecraft workmanship. Additionally, Grissom’s widow later won a settlement against North American.

On August 13, 1964, Astronauts Frank Borman, Neil Armstrong, John Young and Deke Slayton (left to right) are shown during desert survival training at Stead Air Force Base near Reno, Nevada. (NASA Photo S64-14507 via NASA on the Commons/Flickr)

Astronaut Frank Borman closely supervised an extensive review of the Apollo 1 fire’s findings and the redesign of this spacecraft at the North American Rockwell manufacturing plant, in Downey, California. He literally moved into that company’s facility during the redesign and manufacture of the new Block II Apollo spacecraft. It featured a new quick-opening hatch that opened outwardly in about three seconds, the addition of a nitrogen-oxygen life support system, replacing the pure oxygen one that contributed to the Apollo 1 fire, and numerous other on-board systems improvements. Meanwhile, Rockwell International became part of North American and major top-management changes followed.

On March 11, 1967, AS-500D configuration I testing ended with a special test to verify the flight control system. The test program included roll, pitch, yaw and longitudinal testing, completed earlier in 1967. AS-500D was a dynamic test article of the Saturn V space vehicle. Seen here on June 20, 1967, the Apollo spacecraft leaves the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on its way to the Vehicle Assembly Building where it will be mated with the Saturn launch vehicle. The Saturn V was designed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center/Flickr)

After making numerous spacecraft improvements during a year-and-a-half of unmanned flight testing, Apollo 7 was ready to be launched into Earth orbit on a Saturn 1B space vehicle at the Cape’s Complex 34, the same one where the Apollo 1 astronauts had perished. Aboard were mission commander, Walter “Wally” Schirra, who had flown on Mercury and Gemini flights, and new astronauts Walter Cunningham and Donn Eisle. Launched October 11, 1968, they orbited the Earth for 260 hours and certified the redesigned spacecraft for future manned flights to the Moon. This flight also included live television transmissions. You might remember the astronauts held up a sign, in a lighter moment, for their TV audience on Earth that read, “Keep those cards and letters coming in folks.”

On October 14, 1968, the Apollo 7 crew became the first to broadcast live on television from space. In this photo, Walter M. Schirra Jr. (right) and Donn F. Eisele are seen during the first live television transmission. Schirra is holding a sign which reads, "Keep those cards and letters coming in, folks!" Out of view at left is astronaut Walter Cunningham. (NASA on the Commons/ Flickr)

Schirra had insisted that Guenter Wendt, known for his thoroughness and expertise during the Mercury and Gemini programs, be his mission’s pad leader, the final person who determines all checklist requirements have been met, prior to closing a manned spacecraft’s hatch for launch. But Wendt, a former World War II Luftwaffe flight engineer, was still working for McDonnell Douglas, the company that built the Mercury and Gemini spacecraft. Addressing this issue, Schirra–in his well-known assertive style–bypassed long-standing federal rules prohibiting the influencing of a company’s hiring policies. In doing so, he went to top North American Rockwell management and demanded it hire Wendt as the pad leader for the Apollo 7 spacecraft, which it did.

An aerial view of the Apollo Saturn V Facilities Test vehicle rolling out of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and heading to Launch Complex 39A on May 25, 1966. This test vehicle, designated the Apollo Saturn 500F, will never make the journey to the moon. However, it is being used to verify launch facilities, train launch crews, and develop test and checkout procedures. (NASA photo 66PC-0072 via NASA on the Commons/ Flickr)

After the Block II spacecraft was man-rated for flight, the next step was to qualify the larger Apollo/Saturn V space vehicle for launching astronauts to the Moon. And to do this, NASA first relied on a full-scale space vehicle mock-up, designated the Apollo/Saturn V facilities vehicle, or AS-500-F. This gave support crews the opportunity to take it to the launch pad atop an incredibly large transporter, to check interfaces with various systems, including the mobile launcher’s nine swing arms, and with a separate mobile service structure.

A top-to-bottom view of the 36-story-tall Apollo/Saturn 501 space vehicle in High Bay No. 1 of the Vehicle Assembly Building on May 25, 1967. (NASA photo 67P-0208 via NASA on the Commons/ Flickr)

The first of two unmanned test launches with a flight-ready Apollo/Saturn V space vehicle took place on November 9, 1967. While I was standing at the press site three-and-a-half miles from Launch Complex 39A, I still remember that rocket’s thunder-like liftoff, an ear-piercing 120 decibels, my heart’s rapid beating and the ground’s shaking as AS-501, this vehicle’s designation, slowly lifted off in a trail of heavy exhaust.

"I STILL REMEMBER THAT ROCKET'S THUNDER-LIKE LIFTOFF"

The Apollo 4 space mission was launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The liftoff of the huge 363-foot tall Apollo/Saturn V space vehicle was at 7:00:01 a.m. (EST), Nov. 9, 1967. (NASA photo S67-49969 via NASA on the Commons/ Flickr)

Editor's Note: In addition to serving as public affairs officer for 17 years at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Steve Milner was also a public affairs contractor with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at Cape Canaveral during the manned Gemini, Apollo and Skylab programs.