The Apollo One Disaster | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror

"On the 27th of January, 1967, a disaster during a routine test launch at the Cape Kennedy Air Force Station Launch Complex in Florida put America’s space program on hold..."
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CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro
00:34 - Background
03:54 - The Apollo One Disaster
06:25 - The Aftermath
MUSIC:
► "Glass Pond" by Public Memory
► "Magenta" by Sextile
SOURCES:
► "55 Years Ago: The Apollo 1 Fire and its Aftermath" by John Uri, published by NASA, February 2022. Link: www.nasa.gov/feature/55-years...
► "The hell of Apollo 1: Pure oxygen, a single spark, and death in 17 seconds" by Eric Berger, published by Ars Technica, January 2017. Link: arstechnica.com/science/2017/...
► "‘We have a fire in the cockpit!’ The Apollo 1 disaster 50 years later" by Sarah Larimer, published by The Washington Post, January 2017. Link: www.washingtonpost.com/news/s...
► "The Apollo 1 tragedy" by David Williams, published by NASA, January 2018. Link: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary....
CORRECTIONS:
► In this episode I give the date of the moon landing as the 16th of July, 1969. This was actually the date when the moon landing mission launched - the actual landing took place on the 20th of July, 1969.
​​​​​​​#Documentary​​​​ #History​​​​​​​​​ #TrueStories​

[@elennapointer701]

I remember watching the movie, "The Right Stuff", years ago, and it explained the disconnect that existed within NASA between the scientists and astronauts very well, via one simple scene that's stayed with me. The scene is where the first NASA astronauts see the Mercury space capsule for the first time - the thing that's going to carry one of them into orbit, to become the first American in space. The scientists and engineers comprised the top brains in the business (and a lot of former Nazi V2 rocket designers) and they'd worked together to complete this state-of-the-art vehicle. The astronauts gathered around the Mercury capsule as the scientists, very proud and confident, explained what it was and how it worked. And then one of the astronauts asked, "where's the window?" There wasn't one. In their quest to build a craft that would deliver the functionality demanded of it, the scientists had forgotten that Mercury would be carrying a human being, and that human being would naturally want to be able to see outside rather than spending the entirety of the flight sealed up inside a tiny, windowless pod. The idea of putting a window into the capsule had simply not occurred to any of the scientists, and they were ordered by NASA managers to go back to the drawing board and redesign the capsule, this time with a window in it.

[@confusedDruid]

I'm sorry, did you say Nazis? I get people change and some people didnt know what was going on but it's just really jarring to hear that people who aided in the genocide of many groups of people and fought (and lost) on the opposing side of the war that was going on during said genocide had the lives of our astronauts (and space program's reputation) in their hands. The same people who may have had friends or colleagues tried for war crimes and may still be bitter about the whole situation

[@faded1to3black]

@@confusedDruid yes, some Nazi scientists were recruited. Many were forced to help the regime, and only cared about actual scientific advancement. Some of the Japanese soldiers participating in Unit 731 never faced any charges for their crimes. It happens. Despite the horrific stuff that happened, there were some brilliant minds who were simply stuck between a rock and a hard place. Either you do your science for the man in charge, or you and your family end up disappearing. Some of them were genuine supporters of the nazi party too, but would only offer their expertise in exchange for legal immunity. Its a double edged sword. Sure, you have to let a Nazi go, and even work alongside him, but that particular one or few isn't just a grunt soldier, they're one of the top minds in the entire world who can make this or that rocket work in a time when rockets were basically still in their infancy.

[@MkiSaskTheGlumpSod]

@@confusedDruid if you’re interested in learning about this look up Operation Paper Clip. The following is summarized from the Operation Paper Clip Wikipedia: Around 1600 Nazi German scientists and engineers were secretly hired by the Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency (JIOA) through the use of US Army Counterintelligence Corps (CIC) secret agents. Many of these personnel were former party members and a few were party leaders.

[@gravewalkerz7787]

@@confusedDruid look up Operation Paperclip it's a very interesting read.

[@deezelfairy]

@@confusedDruid Yes, a lot of nazi scientists worked on the early space programs for both the Americans and the Soviets. Like it or not the German rocket scientists were the most advanced at that time due to the V2 rocket program and the US was in a fierce battle to beat the Soviets. Remember not all Nazis were evil, thats just a childish concept of our modern society. A lot of them were just told "Join us to do this or else". Things are more complicated in real life and morality isn't always black and white.

[@michaelmuldowney8]

It’s quite possible that had Gus Grissom not perished it would have been him and not Neil Armstrong who was the first to set foot on the moon.

[@Lucinda_Jackson]

I would say probable. He was the golden boy.

[@sometimesleela5947]

Lots of if's. If it hadn't burned on the ground, it could have happened on the way to the moon, three dead astronauts could still be orbiting to this day, and the program could have been scrapped altogether.

[@grafhilgenhurst9717]

The movie "The Right Stuff" does a disservice to Gus Grissom's memory. He was described as a pilot's pilot!

[@MrRight80]

And Gus would have said that famous quote instead of Neil.

[@Highstranger951]

Why can’t we go back to the moon?

[@emileebaker8520]

Gus knew that they were rushing and cutting corners and had expressed grave concern about the safety of the mission to one of his fellow astronauts (Deke Slayton, I think), but he knew that, if he brought up those concerns to NASA, they wouldn't be repaired, instead they would just replace Gus with a less vocal astronaut. Ultimately, he decided that he would rather he suffer than to put that on someone else who potentially didn't understand the risks they were taking, so he didn't voice any of his concerns. This same attitude of "go go go" would later cost us the Challenger crew. So, if anyone ever gets upset when NASA scrubs a launch that they were really hoping to see, remember that we finally learned something from losing all of those brave souls. I'll end this far too long comment with a quote from Gus, as written in his posthumously published story of the Gemini program, "If we die we want people to accept it. We are in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us, it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life."

[@JCBro-yg8vd]

And that same attitude also played a part in the Columbia tragedy. The foam debris strike was a problem NASA knew about since the beginning of the shuttle program, and Atlantis' first mission after the Challenge disaster saw it suffer significant damage that could very easily have caused it to break up during re-entry. But NASA ignored the problem and kept pushing up the launch dates.

[@ms_cartographer]

No human life is worth flying in space.

[@davidlundquist1979]

@@ms_cartographer The future of our species is in space (and by extension, on other planets). But when lives are lost due to sloppy work and a rushed schedule, that's a big mistake that should have been avoided.

[@JCBro-yg8vd]

@@ms_cartographer No human life should be worth anything, period. Yeah, I know, you can't create a zero risk factor for every possibility. But there's no reason why safety shouldn't be a top priority when designing, planning or scheduling *ANYTHING*. Cutting corners will always come back to bite you sooner or later.

[@christrotter3052]

Your comment is not too long... You cut right to it

[@Vanilla0729]

Define: "Irony." Before this incident, Gus Grissom was most famous for the loss of his Mercury capsule. The hatch blew open upon splashdown. First it opens too easily, then it's too hard. Poor man couldn't win for losing.

[@valerialopez-trujillo123]

That fact has always stuck with me. Gus Grissom's reputation was nearly ruined because of what happened in that Mercury capsule. And then it couldn't open when he needed it to.

[@YearsOfLeadPoisoning]

Statistically speaking, Grissom had no issues with spacecraft hatches.

[@dylconnaway9976]

@@valerialopez-trujillo123 That actually is not true. The movie The Right Stuff made it seem this way, but that movie was filled with fiction. The review board believed Gus’s account (which was later proven correct) and he was never torn up about it like the movie made it seem. He also didn’t drink or smoke- all fiction. The man that wrote the book/movie never interviewed anyone that worked with Gus or Gus’s family. He just made up what he thought would be a good story. Gus was just known for being a veteran astronaut at the time that survived his capsule sinking.

[@valerialopez-trujillo123]

@@dylconnaway9976 I never actually watched that movie. I think it was someone who worked at Kennedy Space Center that told me about the damage to his reputation until his friend proved him correct by breaking the hatch itself. But its been years since that conversation so I probably misremembered.

[@dylconnaway9976]

@@valerialopez-trujillo123 then sadly whoever worked there's understanding was based on that movie. They found the hatch wasn't blown by Gus in the 90s when a team recovered the Liberty Bell from the ocean, and it did not hurt Gus's reputation at the time. He was placed as the commander of the 1st lunar mission, Apollo 1, because of the faith NASA leadership had in him. It's sad someone working at KSC is telling a movie's version of history.

[@mattblom3990]

Feel so bad for those men. What a horrific way to die that way and to see it as a NASA scientist.

[@xr6lad]

Sounds like those coward NASA scientists were quite willing to play with lives judging by the fact they had a poorly built system that they kept excusing when it faulted and pushing on with their agenda.

[@shadowcat314]

Grissom wasn't on board with NASA's plan to film the "moon landing". To prevent him from leaking the hoax to the press, they got rid of him. He was concerned for his life, and told his wife beforehand that if he died in an accident, that it was not an accident.

[@boanerges5723]

Half of those NASA scientists had done worse to humans when the were Nazis and experimenting on humans. They put people in vacuum chambers to see what they could withstand among worse things.

[@MDLuffy1234YT]

When I first started watching this video, I had expected the three men to have at least made it to space. Now that I finished it, I'm surprised we made it to the moon on time.

[@avernikas]

Modern Calculators has far more processing power than the computers they used! They were awesome back then!

[@karlepaul6632]

Not to veer too far off topic, but I always loved this John Glenn quote: "As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind - every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder."

[@hifi6638]

Very funny comment, but not a truthful statement.

[@user-qj4rp4mn2q]

Standard US military.. remember your rifle,bomber,ship...whatever..

[@jerry2357]

As someone who was born soon before Yuri Gagarin’s first spaceflight, the Apollo One fire was one of the first big news stories I remember well, along with the Aberfan disaster and England winning the World Cup.

[@WeeRattyMau5]

@Smear Campaign 😂😂😂

[@PhilbyFavourites]

I can so relate to the dates and incidents. We skipped around the infants school playground singing “two world wars and one World Cup doo-dah”. Ahh the innocence of childhood….

[@bilindalaw-morley161]

@Smear Campaign Ditto lol. I thought "Why was England winning the World Cup a disaster?"

[@WhatisAPaladin]

you forgot about 9/11

[@jerry2357]

@@WhatisAPaladin I was talking about events that happened in the 1960s, before the World Trade Centre was even completed…

[@Grimpy970]

Gus Grissom's issues with the hatch of 'Liberty Bell 7' was part of the reason that the apollo hatch was so complicated. He went from a door that was too easy to open to a door that was too hard to open. The first one almost drowned him and the second one burned him. There's a weird sense of irony here

[@jbrubin8274]

Watching the footage, knowing full well the outcome of Liberty Bell, I’m still yelling, “He’s in the wash!,” Though the data lost from his first time always bothered him.

[@EricIrl]

The Block 1 Apollo Command Module was being designed as early as 1960 - BEFORE the issue with Gus' Mercury hatch. Jim McDivitt (who died very recently) always argued that the hatch redesign on the Block 2 Command Module was more related to the fundamental changes made to the Apollo mission that meant that the Block 1 Command Module could not be used in any of trhe lunar landing missions.

[@zuitsuit80]

I went to Virgil Grissom Junior High School. This was the first lesson from our history teacher.

[@chvfd687]

Huntsville, Alabama?

[@blue_lancer_es]

Good. My kids didnt know who juan ponce de leon was. Thats the name of the school.

[@melissametivier4]

I’m from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Lots of things named after Roger B. Chaffee here.

[@zuitsuit80]

@@chvfd687 Queens, NY

[@KN-jr6tx]

@@blue_lancer_es Was Ponce de Leon constantly on the Fountain of Youth?

[@JoeBob79569]

It's kind of crazy how we went from _"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible”_ to walking on the frigging moon, in the space of one human lifetime..

[@JoeBob79569]

@@dimpsthealien333 💸💷💶💵💴🪙💰 It's like if you climb Everest. You get up there, you accomplish the task, and you see the view. You don't keep returning every single day for the rest of your life, because it's a lot of risk, and effort you have to expend is massive, and the cost of organising it too.

[@Torochiii]

@@dimpsthealien333 we are coming back in 2025!

[@mcchop1169]

@@dimpsthealien333 *except for the 5 times they returned. Have you ever heard of google? You can find out all kinds of things

[@Bleifuss88]

Even crazier that this would still be the greatest achievement during the next human lifetime. We have stopped progressing.

[@JoeBob79569]

@@Bleifuss88 I think it's just more about necessity, and money. Since America really, really, wanted to beat Russia in the space race. And since Kennedy made the statement about getting there before the end of the decade they had a goal, and pulled out all the stops so as not to fail. We could easily put a colony on Mars in a few years if we pulled out all the stops to make it happen. Of course it would cost a fortune, and some people would probably die if we rushed it. It's a balance between money, safety, and desire.

[@caustic1611]

During the Mercury program, Gus Grissom almost died when the hatch door on his capsule unexpectedly blew and the whole thing flooded with ocean water and sunk after splashdown.

[@mbryson2899]

At one point they accused _him_ of opening the door.

[@RHR-221b]

@@mbryson2899 *That's Americana Folklore for you!* Stay free, M. R ⏰ 🎲 🌠 👋

[@okankyoto]

@@mbryson2899 After it was proven that he didn't blow the door, they decided to remove the explosive hatch from the Apollo CM design- which would have saved all their lives.

[@GermanShepherd1983]

@@mbryson2899 The only way that door could open was Grissom opening it, so the accusation was true.

[@mbryson2899]

@@GermanShepherd1983 You're absolutely certain it wasn't static arcing that triggered the bolts?

[@EIbereth]

I was born on July 23, 1969. I grew up hearing my late father telling the terrible story of the astronauts dying inside Apollo I, so this video deeply moved me. May all those dead for space programs - animals and humans alike - rest in peace. 🙏💔

[@violetfemme411]

Thank you for adding animals to your RIP. 💜

[@twistoffate4791]

@@violetfemme411 Yes. I give thanks for that inclusion as well

[@MsMichigan]

Thank you. Too many times we see animals perish on our behalf. Thank you for honoring them as well 👏

[@natowaveenjoyer9862]

I'd rather sacrifice a billion Laikas than lose a single Grissom, Chaffee or White.

[@DelaniaAndTheDogs]

Thank you for mentioning the animals who also gave their lives for the program.

[@BrenMurphy1]

As a retired Air Force Test Pilot, this presents some of the key issues that led to the outcome in a sensitive and accessible manner. Many thanks my good man.

[@leftpastsaturn67]

@Dennis McConnell Grow up Dennis, nobody else wants to play your infantile game.

[@MamaLauren523]

Many thanks to you as well sir! You and those that served risked your lives to test new technology. Your commitment and bravery are very much appreciated 💜

[@MamaLauren523]

@@Hartley_Hare I report it as unwanted spam. That usually works😉

[@MamaLauren523]

@@Hartley_Hare Stuff like that has appearing a lot lately. My favorites are half Spanish half English and mention blondes and brunettes 😄 KZbin's last update seems to be allowing it. It takes 30 seconds to report it and I haven't seen any come back...yet lol.

[@danielfarrugia3884]

@Dennis McConnell you foolish person

[@QT5656]

Gil Grissom from the CBS television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the Federation starship USS Grissom from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), and Virgil from the British TV show Thunderbirds were all named after Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom.

[@SecretSquirrelFun]

Really? That’s so great. Thanks for sharing this 🙂

[@Cre80s]

"Hey, any suggestions for who we name the ship after that gets taken out so easy and burns up with a lucky shot, everyone on board dies a grizzly, firey death??"

[@serenitymoon825]

All the Tracy sons from Thunderbirds were named after astronauts, which I love

[@thetruekhanofkhans]

Grissom Academy from Mass Effect too

[@willythepeachfacelovebird]

Cyrus?

[@FLABrowncoat]

Thank you for covering this important event in our shared history. It fits perfectly into this channel's theme of "disasters and accidents that shaped the modern world" and how we live our lives. Immediately following the fire, while investigation was underway, Gene Franz (flight control leader who would become famous for his management of the Apollo 13 crisis) gathered all flight controllers into a room and castigated them in a famous speech known as the Kranz Dictum, which was excerpted in this video. He mandated that all flight controllers and their technical staff write two words on their chalkboards (which were in every office to work out equations on): "TOUGH means we are forever accountable for what we do or fail to do...COMPETENT means we will never take anything for granted." To this day, by sacred tradition, engineers across NASA and elsewhere in aerospace write those two words on every whiteboard in every office -- including mine. Godspeed, gentlemen.

[@mavin8rthefierce]

I never knew most of this, thank you for sharing!

[@hannahlou3406]

P0

[@PaulSoth]

May I suggest taking a look at Soyuz 11? After a 23 day mission on the Salyut 1 space station, an accident involving the separation of the service and reentry modules of the spacecraft caused a valve failure that resulted in the cabin completely losing all pressure. The automated systems still completed the reentry process, but the recovery team found all three crewmembers dead from asphyxiation. Whereas all other deadly space travel disasters occurred during launch or during atmospheric reentry, the three cosmonauts of Soyuz 11 remain the only human beings in history to have actually died in space.

[@jacobajivarghese2030]

Kinda scary, a rocket with dead astronauts landing back on Earth perfectly.

[@davidlundquist1979]

That may not actually be true. While there's no concrete proof, there is a fair amount of circumstantial evidence indicating that Yuri Gagarin wasn't actually the first person in space; he was just the first to survive to tell the tale. Which is still a tremendous achievement and doesn't mean he deserves to be celebrated any less. If anything, he deserves even more admiration. Gagarin would have undoubtedly noticed that some of his fellow cosmonauts had disappeared without any official explanation, and he went ahead with his flight even so.

[@PaulSoth]

@@davidlundquist1979 While the Soviets did have a good number of disasters in their space program that remained secret for decades (Valentin Bondarenko, Nedelin catastrophe, Pleseteck disaster, etc.), there's not much real evidence supporting the "lost cosmonauts" claims. Even the supposed recordings by the Judica-Cordiglia brothers are filled with technical and grammatical errors. After that, all that exists is speculation with no solid evidence.

[@brianwong7285]

The Soyuz 11 disaster and the disaster with the Liberty Bell 7 Mercury capsule both had one thing in common: exploding bolts that were part of the systems had fired all at once. In Soyuz 11, that was for the seperation mechanism between the craft and the Salyut Space Station, the jolt of all 8 exploding bolts is what was believed to have been the force that jerked the pressurisation valve open. Meanwhile the same thing just about happened with Liberty Bell 7, with the exploding bolts firing all at once that sunk the capsule, leading to the inward-opening plug-style hatch that doomed Apollo 1's crew.

[@krisztianpovazson4535]

The "fair amount of circumstantial evidence" is just rubbish speculation. It is impossible to hide anything in space (see Komarov's death), and besides, the entire Soviet space program has been declassified, and among the many coverups, there is no trace of lost cosmonauts.

[@cardinaloflannagancr8929]

Something that always puzzled me was why it proceeded forward without finding the cause of the sour oxygen. Especially when you put it in context that there was also electrical interference. Which could indicate cracked or broken insulation on wires.

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

Kranz explained it: GO Fever.

[@Muscleduck]

Can't let the commies win the space race.

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

@@Muscleduck Yup, gotta abandon your plans for your own cool piloted spaceplane because the Joneskis got a capsule!

[@esciteach7997]

why ? same as Challenger; "it's OK we are on a tight schedule"

[@dave1135]

The biggest cause of the fire was the capsule was filled with 100% pure oxygen, under pressure.any spark or flame becomes a blowtorch. The door was designed to open inward, impossible to do when the capsule was under pressure.

[@MusicoftheDamned]

Another disaster that I think that I already knew about, if vaguely and far less detail than this, which isn't too surprising given the successful Apollo missions and the even greater tragedy of The Challenger explosion get (a lot) more attention. Thanks for the video. May the three men rest in peace.

[@alexlents4689]

Same!

[@Katpiratefan275]

Same here If you've watched Apollo 13, it was the first scene of the movie, the tragedy of Apollo 1 and it's brought up a few times throughout, but I think this tragedy was the main drive to save the Apollo 13 crew. And thankfully NASA kept this streak of not loosing anyone astronauts, until the Challenger explosion.

[@cybercrasherstv]

I don't think many realize that's not the only space shuttle that malfunctioned

[@frits191]

@@Katpiratefan275 I loved that movie but used to be scared of that part as a kid, atleast apollo 13 made it back safely

[@Ozymandias1]

@@cybercrasherstv Columbia (the original shuttle that went into space in 1981) blew up during re-entry in 2003. And the Soviets also had a disaster with Soyuz 11 in 1971 that killed all three men on board when their capsule depressurized in preparations for re-entry.

[@Myst1cSiren]

I remember hearing about this a year ago and it was honestly so sad how those men KNEW there was a chance the mission wouldn't work yet they risked their lives to try and complete it. Rest in peace to Grissom, White and Chaffee.

[@kevinthompson6986]

Yes but glad they used it as a learning experience so American’s could walk the moon first R.I.P.

[@Notspartan117]

Fred Haise also credited the improved wiring on the block 2 with helping them survive Apollo 13. There was no procedure to turn off the crew module in-flight. It had never been thought about. So when they had to do it to save power, there was a lot of condensation all over the crew module console. The crew was afraid they wouldn’t be able to turn the module back on because of a short. Fortunately that didn’t happen.

[@lolzlolz102]

Yeah I've seen Apollo 13 too.

[@davidschaadt3460]

That again was so close to a disaster.

[@george-xx3mu]

Good news, hopefully safety is reviewed and improved in the future.

[@steveghazarian]

Great summary of a tragic accident. One small correction, the moon landing was July 20, 1969 not the 16th.

[@Vanilla0729]

Yes. 16th was the launch date.

[@danielfarrugia3884]

I always remember the launch date because it is exactly 10 years to the day before I was born.

[@AArdW01f]

They have the hatch door to A1 in the back of the Apollo exhibit at Cap Canaveral. They don't make a huge deal out of it in the memorial area. It's there gor those who know.... Seeing it admist all our triumphs is an extremely moving experience.... RIP

[@rosemaryangela1825]

I understand that the rest of Apollo 1 sits in a warehouse

[@okankyoto]

Its important that they're actually open to having it out at all. For years the final remains of Challenger and Apollo 1 (the spacecraft themselves) were basically kept in missile silos. Its important that we acknowledge the costs and challenges that were overcome- no matter how hard it may be to do so.

[@AArdW01f]

@@okankyoto they have pieces from the shuttles in the memorial section of the shuttle exhibit too. Nothing hits me as hard as seeing the A1 hatch then walking across Apollo 11s gangway - but it's equally moving.

[@annadean387]

I am from Huntsville, AL, where much of the engineering for NASA is done. We have a Chaffee Elementary, White Middle School, and Grissom High School. Nobody in that town has forgotten. There’s also a Challenger Middle and Columbia High.

[@FireStriker_]

Would be kind of hard to name a school after all 14 astronauts lost in Challenger and Columbia.

[@mtmadigan82]

NASA still has the remains of the module from after the fire. I was at NASA's Langley facility a few years ago, and was told the families annually still come by and visit for a private remembrance.

[@dylconnaway9976]

They visit the launch pad annually on January 27th. The capsule has not been made available to the families.

[@raquellofstedt9713]

In Lovell`s novel on Apollo 13 he describes that the situation on the faults in the Apollo 1 were so numerous that at one point the astronausts left a lemon on the nosecone. It wasn´t a joke. The criticisms were seriously meant far in advance of this accident, and are one of reasons why astronauts demanded and got a great deal of influence in the design and engineering of the capsules and other equipment.

[@tinastagg6258]

Gus hung a lemon off the sim, not the actual spacecraft, because at that time the sim computer was failing badly and crashing frequently.

[@raquellofstedt9713]

@@tinastagg6258 Ah, Thank you, my memory deserves one as well, it seems.

[@tinastagg6258]

@@raquellofstedt9713 happens to us all. Yesterday, I briefly forgot who flew Gemini IX back in 1966, which is kinda embarrassing as I met Gene Cernan in 2017 and planted a big kiss on his cheek (before babbling and running away like a 12yo girl)!

[@Cre80s]

One of the best books I ever read.

[@tinastagg6258]

@@Cre80s he tries some very cheeky fibs about how the Apollo 8 Earthrise photo went down - the spacecraft recordings tell a very different story (“Calm down, Lovell!) - but he’s such a character and sweetheart you have to forgive him. Plus those guys have been ribbing each other about who took it since December 1968, it’s a decades-old inside joke. Mike Collins’s Carrying the Fire is widely regarded as the best of the astronaut books of that era and I would highly recommend it to you. Collins is a sophisticated writer and wickedly funny. I’m also currently reading Fred Haise’s Never Panic Early and that too is a ripper. Honourable mentions include Al Worden’s Falling to Earth and Gene Cernan’s Last Man on the Moon.

[@Jugi_boy]

I went down the rabbit hole of the Apollo one tragedy, I saw the photos and heard the audio. To be honest, I was pretty shook since I don’t normally let my morbid curiosity take control. I just feel so bad for those men and their families.

[@MookVideos]

It's worth noting that the improved easier to open hatch design was too easy to open in some cases, leading to the incident where the command module door blew off after landing in the sea and the module began flooding after one mission.

[@HeronCoyote1234]

When I heard about the “new, improved” hatch, my first thought was “maybe it’s too easy to open now?”

[@caustic1611]

Gus Grissom was also on that mission during the Mercury program a couple years prior, where the hatch blew and the capsule sunk.

[@MookVideos]

@@caustic1611 ahh yes thats the one I think I'm thinking of, they then changed the hatch to make it harder to pop open, leading to this incident. Probably got my timeline muddled ha.

[@jxchamb]

@@caustic1611 Remo Williams?

[@Echo11A]

The 'hatch blew off' incident actually happend during Mercury-Redstone 4, the second manned mission of the Mercury program(also Gus Grissom's first spaceflight). It happend due to the emergency hatch relase for the Mercury capsule, which uses explosive bolts to blow it open, was triggered due to unknown reasons. This incident led the use of explosive bolts as emergency egress systems being discontinued on future spacecraft designs. Thus, it is impossible for the hatch on Apollo Command Module to blow off, even after the redesign.

[@nathangold2302]

Your videos are awesome man. It's not that mindless drama filled bullshit that so many people watch. Your videos are historical, factual, and educational. If this was all social media consisted of, people would be way smarter, way less insecure, and might have the ability to interact with other humans without an emotional outburst.

[@whofandb]

The reason the door to the capsule was difficult to open was to prevent early opening. In 1961 the Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle, a spacecraft nicknamed Liberty Bell 7, had landed in the ocean with Gus Grissom onboard as pilot. The hatch opened prematurely and Liberty Bell 7 began to sink. Grissom was saved but some people thought he blew the hatch too soon. The Apollo One hatch was made to be more difficult to open on purpose. Decades later when the Liberty Bell was finally recovered in 1999 it was proven that Grissom did not trigger the hatch too soon. It was theorized to have been a short circuit due to a static charge. So it wasn't the first time Grissom's life was in danger due to a spark of electricity.

[@aceckrot]

Gene Kranz was a NASA fixture for many years, probably most notably as Flight Director for Apollo 13 but still with NASA and was in Mission Control when the Challenger exploded in 1986, retiring after the STS-61 flight that repaired the Hubble Space Telescope.

[@addfuture]

His quotes made him seem like a genuine person, glad he seemed to have a good career, even if it wasn't without incident.

[@GrislyAtoms12]

He was played by Ed Harris in the movie "Apollo 13", directed by Opie Taylor. Er, I mean, Ron Howard. Good casting choice. Not only did Harris steal the show with his acting performance, he bears a resemblance to Kranz too.

[@TheCombatWombat0]

Wow, respect for leaving the Apolo I mission patch up on the moon. That's a kind gesture. Nice work FH!

[@Oldbmwr100rs]

A little sculpture of an astronaut was also left as a memorial to all of those lost in space research, either with Apollo 11 or a later flight.

[@rigel2112]

@@Oldbmwr100rs That is the "Fallen Astronaut" memorial left by the crew of Apollo 15 it includes a plaque with the names of the Americans and Russians who died in the programs to get to the moon.

[@skwervin1]

What isn't widely known is that there were three stars which are used for guidance by NASA and after the accident, those stars were named after them. 'Navi' for Virgil Ivan Gus Grissom, Dnoces for Edward Higgins White II, and Regor for Roger Bruce Chaffee. Thus those who gave their lives would still be watching over those who came after.

[@random22026]

Dnoces? Really? A number, and not a name? 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔Doesn't seem right.

[@skwervin1]

Edward Higgins White the SECOND..... they chose to reverse the last part of his name. Chaffee had his first name reversed, Grissom his middle name, and for White, they used his last name . It also lined up with the seats they were in.

[@random22026]

@@skwervin1 A number, not a name, still stands, imho

[@skwervin1]

@@random22026 Well it wasn't my decision.... just tellin' the facts!

[@random22026]

@@skwervin1 And, by God, we appreciae that reveal: thank you so much, Wendy! 😌😌

[@jackzimmer6553]

Damn shame! I think about this tragedy and how it could have been avoided. Roasting to death inside a small confined capsule…on the ground…during a test is especially poignant. An extreme sacrifice to keep up with making sure we were on the moon before the end of the decade. Rest In Peace gentlemen!

[@jimwilliams4532]

Men and women have died worse deaths for fat lesser reasons. Vietnam and Iraq for example.

[@alp-1960]

They were asphyxiated before they were "roasted."

[@jackzimmer6553]

@@alp-1960 Listen to the actual tape of the Apollo 1 communications. One of the astronauts is screaming in pain near the end.

[@alp-1960]

@@jackzimmer6553 From history.nasa.gov/Apollo204/find.html "Autopsy data leads to the medical opinion that unconsciousness occurred rapidly and that death followed soon thereafter."

[@jackzimmer6553]

@@alp-1960 kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGiXnYSJl9WeiMk

[@jamesharmer9293]

"What we are doing is dangerous. We are going to lose people." - Gus Grissom

[@annoyboyPictures]

Every Advancement in Human Endeavor requires Sacrifice... Just as Every Aviation Safety Regulation is written in Blood.

[@Lindrios]

Leaving Apollo One's mission patch on the surface of the moon, I honestly can not think of a better way to honor these fallen astronauts. o7

[@americanviking9384]

Insomniac gang here

[@bitters879]

Sleepless for life 🤘

[@RK-df1tk]

Here as well 🙂

[@shanna3148]

Real no sleep hours

[@Fork924]

Heya bestie's

[@noname-lk5mh]

Yo

[@bekaemery2918]

There is something about the apollo missions that carries such weight. Apollo 1, 11 and 13. A disaster, a success, and a Successful failure

[@eirschu8973]

It's interesting how in Russian we always say "cosmonaut" for our guys but traditionally call americans "astronauts". It's not a strict rule or anything, but something most of us do, especially those who work in space-related spheres. I've always been mesmerized by space exploration. Too bad so many lives were lost in this race. 💔

[@sailboat908]

and Chinese space explorers are styled "taikonauts."

[@eirschu8973]

@@sailboat908 yup, that, too!

[@qwopiretyu]

American goals: explore near space. Russian goals: explore COSMOS

[@DinoCism]

0:57 Can we just talk about what an absolute chad Yuri Gagarin was?

[@kevinthompson6986]

I wonder how many lives will be lost going to mars?I would love the idea of building a skyscraper city in upper Venus atmosphere too like I’ve heard

[@nirvanabuzz69]

I'd highly recommend the book "failure is not an option" by Gene Krantz. I read that just before I got to go to Kennedy and it made me appreciate just how brave these astronauts were. Seeing the Saturn V for the first time took my breath away. The scale of the thing is mind blowing.

[@pfadiva]

You knew the thing was HUGE but seeing it in person gives a new perspective. I saw the one at NASA Houston. It's staged lying on the ground, and looking into the exhaust bell of one of its F-1 engines leaves one totally agog and saying "Wow!" an inordinate number of times.

[@dylconnaway9976]

A much better book than “The Right Stuff,” which is largely filled with fiction. That guy didn’t interview anyone and just filled in the blanks with what he thought would be a good story. Always pissed me off, because people think it’s a primary sourced history book.

[@JimAllen-Persona]

I agree. Krantz’ book is excellent. He talks about how they had no procedures.. and was one of his first priorities.

[@robbbarnett4978]

Very tragic! Condolences! I've been a QC inspector for many years and a containment supervisor as well and really didn't have to be to see that in industry the cart is always placed before the horse. Then you have to go back and fill in the pieces to complete. When this happens there are breaches and ofcourse things and people fall in between the cracks. Procedures and protocol should shadow safety. Safety comes first.

[@parisbest105]

I remember when this happened. I was in 6th grade. My Dad was in the USAF and I remember how hard he burst out crying when this tragic story was reported. So horrific. 🙈 He really loved our astronauts. And about five years later, my Dad was so thrilled to become good friends with Buzz Aldrin, when they moved in right next door to us on Edwards AFB!!! Buzz had been my Dad's favorite Astronaut!!! And Col. Adrian was really wonderful man and he brought so much laughter!!! My Dad loved every minute he felt so tickled pink to spend with Buzz!!! Sadly, Dad passed away only a couple of years later, from a sudden fatal brain tumor. And watching this video, I just learned for the first time, that they left the names of the Apollo 1 Astronauts on the moon and that was so nice to hear!!! 🙏💕 🚀 God Bless Them 🚀

[@PinkyJujubean]

My grandma went to high school with Roger Chaffee and there's a street named after him in our town. She said he was really nice and came from a very good family.

[@lauraduplooy]

I had no idea. I'm 46, so of the Challenger disaster generation. Thank you. I was touched by this one more than most, perhaps because these men had spent a literal lifetime preparing for this, only to lose their life on their first mission, without even leaving Earth's atmosphere. So sad. Again, thank you!

[@cynthiarainey8545]

This was not Gus’ first mission. He had already been in space. This would have been a longer and more important mission for him, however.

[@lenman1114]

I started elementary school in 1959 and watched almost every launch of the Mercury and Gemini programs. We were all so very proud of the progress made, so when Apollo started we were all excited at the beginning of the coming moon landings. We were devastated by the Apollo 1 disaster and the loss of these three brave men. I will never forget them until the day I die.

[@dennis2376]

I was only in Grade 3 when the moon landing happen, and we kids were jumping for joy and laughing. To this day, I do not think we really understood what had happened.

[@maryg3143]

I was just a kid when this happened and I remember this being on the news. I felt so bad for the astronauts and their families. I never knew what the problem was then, so I thank you for doing this video. I hadn't thought about Apollo One for decades.

[@joshuapatrick682]

Crazy that the memorial of the three men is above my head right now…kind of remarkable really.

[@dennismartin4659]

There's an entire radio transmission of about an hour of that test night, up to and a few mins after the fire on YT. Heartbreaking. Gus and Young the greatest astronauts of all time in my book.

[@chynnadoll3277]

I’ve heard that tape. Absolutely heartbreaking.

[@PaulFurber]

When I did a tour of the shuttle launching pad, there were ziplines from the cockpit level away from the pad and to safety. Our tour guide explained that they were standard since Apollo 1 in case the crew had to escape a fire at cockpit level.

[@8-bitsteve500]

Growing up in the 60's, I was a massive fan of Space and Gus Grissom was my #1 hero. Utterly heartbreaking and tragic loss. RIP Gus, Ed, Roger. Heroes all.

[@Heinz-bx8sd]

Gus caused the accident. He killed his 2 mates and escaped to Argentina and assumed a new identity. It's a big cover up.

[@kellyhoulton2998]

I was too young to understand or remember this horrific tragedy, but I remember the Apollo 11 mission well. The movie Apollo 13 mentions the disaster and that's when I took note. Over the years, Gus Grissom and his fellow crew mates have taken a special hold in my heart. Our exploration and knowledge of the solar system - and beyond - owe an insurmountable debt to these amazing astronauts.

[@toemblem]

There is a great story about Gus Grissom visiting the rocket plant in San Diego, during the Mercury program. It is reported that after touring the facility, they asked him to say a few words to the assembled workers. Gus was not a public speaking type so he simply said "do good work". The plant management had that slogan printed on banners and hung throughout the factory. Rest in Peace Colonel Grissom.

[@RobinsVoyage]

My parents worked at NASA when this happened. It's the stuff off nightmares knowing what was NOT included in this remarkable video

[@ganymededarling]

There is a museum located at Spring Mill State Park in Grissom's hometown of Mitchell, Indiana that honors his life and his missions.

[@bigrexy]

We were just there last week. Wonderful park and museum!

[@cynthiarainey8545]

My hometown. A great honor for a great man.

[@mickeyfilmer5551]

I remeber watching the news on the BBC at six o'clock just 2 days before my 9th birthday and feeling quite upset that the Astronaughts had died, as I was a huge space kid and followed every launch with vigour. It was the wake up call so badly needed for NASA.

[@Jared_Wignall]

I always appreciate the quality content you produce. Keep up the great work man!

[@krisztianpovazson4535]

Another detail I might add: the Apollo was meant to have a pure oxygen atmosphere at 1/5 sea level pressure. During this test, the cabin was at full sea level pressure, meaning five times higher concentration of oxygen than outside.

[@wzpu3283]

16.7psi Two psi above atmospheric pressure at sea level.

[@tyn999]

Great video! You give us a lot of information in just 10 min. When I saw the hatch design, my first thought was: "Oh, this is bad!"

[@MightyMezzo]

I vividly remember the photographs in Life magazine, and seeing one of the last cinema newsreels with Apollo 1 as the lead story. Once again, a good succinct account of a dire historical event.

[@standoughope]

HBO's "From the Earth to the Moon" miniseries is a must watch if you haven't already.

[@renterjack]

Important to note that those items that burned weren't very flammable in normal atmosphere. Even with pure oxygen at normal pressure. It was only when it was over pressurized with pure oxygen to simulate the flight pressures, that those materials became extremely flammable.

[@davidlundquist1979]

Another interesting note: Frank Borman, who had flown in the Gemini program and who would later command Apollo 8, took a very active role in the redesign of the capsule after the disaster. While I'm sure the fire gave the engineers some pretty clear examples of what not to do, having a veteran astronaut involved must have helped a great deal as well.

[@momv2pa]

Wow-I didn’t know about that patch being left on the moon. That was a terrible tragedy for the space program. Unfortunately it wouldn’t be the last. RIP to all those lost souls.

[@spacelemur7955]

I am so impressed by the effort that goes into each video to find actual footage or photos, or a disclaimer when something else is used. This is professional-level work far beyond what most of your competitors in this genre come up with. 🍻👍

[@mindyschocolate]

When Tom Hank’s movie, Apollo 13, came out, I remember being absolutely riveted by the Apollo program, and that opening scene detailing what happened to Apollo 1 was done beautifully. What a haunting and sad scene.

[@icarusbinns3156]

Gods. Mom remembered this happening. She was 6, but she recalled her dad (a Marine) coming home one day, dead white, saying to her mother, “There’s been a disaster, I- Jan, go to your room.” He wouldn’t say what the disaster was where Mom could hear it. To be fair, she was six and he didn’t want to scare her! And the moon landing occurred on July 20th. The launch was earlier, of course, but the actual landing was the 20th (a day I happily share with my birthday)

[@n-steam]

They wanted to advance the human species, they were willing to take these risks to acheive it. That is true courage and bravery far beyond anything we see today, and are the most deserving of our rememberence and admiration.

[@sixstringedthing]

Grissom: "You just plan as best you can to take care of all these eventualities..." Kranz: "We did not do our job. We were rolling the dice, hoping things would come together..." And thus NASA never again allowed the right hand to be unaware of what the left hand was doing. Until 1986, when political pressure and a "normalisation of deviance" management culture once again overcame safety concerns and another seven people died. I really really hope that these lessons don't have to be relearned yet again for Artemis.

[@VoteZombie2012]

Always my favorite videos of the week and I always look forward to them. The perfect voice for narrating these videos, always informative, and the perfect music to accompany it. Thanks for this awesome channel

[@mybrainisshortcake]

Star Trek III first taught me about this when I was a kid - when I looked up the origin of the ship name "U.S.S. Grissom." One of many links and tributes back and forth between Star Trek and NASA...

[@brianwong7285]

One more detail about the post-fire efforts was that because of the high amounts of nylon inside the command module which melted in the fire and fused the bodies of the crewmembers (via the spacesuits) to it, the body removal process took 90 minutes.

[@TheInsomniacLife]

I only found your channel recently but these videos are all so well done.

[@thepanpiper7715]

Hearing the flight commander admit to them having "launch fever", this hyperfixation with just getting the thing in the air as if that's the end of it, and talking about how deep down they were just hoping adn praying that things would somehow come toegther at the last minute is just...so depressing when you look at what happened with the Challenger.

[@walkerpantera]

You have a great channel, I LOVE your videos and the details, even well known stories I still LEARN at 54.

[@jackzimmer6553]

Never stop learning…I’m 67! LOL!

[@sekhmara8590]

Thank you for covering this with the dignity, and respect, that these brave men deserve. As always, another excellent video.

[@bigcountrymower4263]

This may have been said, but the fire led to a massive pressure difference across the door. I believe the door opened inward and the pressure was highest inside. It was physically impossible to open the door.

[@MrPGC137]

Correction: Grissom wasn't the 2nd person in space, he was the third. He was the 2nd _American_ to go into space; Alan Shepard was the 1st. And it wasn't 1960, either. _NOBODY,_ either in the US or Russia had gone into space in 1960. Gagarin was the first human in space in April of 1961, Shepard made his fight the following month, and Grissom made his flight in July of that same year.

[@realpaperstarzz]

not many of these incidents make my jaw drop in horror, but this is one of them. The voice recordings are so chilling.

[@Rammstein0963.]

Surprised this wasn't covered before, but thank you for doing it. I can only hope those poor men went quickly... fire is no joke. 😔

[@cygil1]

They didn't, unfortunately. Witnesses report hearing screaming on the intercom. If professional astronauts are screaming, something is really bad.

[@catscanhavelittleasalami]

Death by fire and fumes is far from instant.

[@ForeverLaxx]

I've heard reports that the astronauts also reported the high level of flammable materials, with concern raised further by the capsule's finicky nature and tendency to malfunction. In those reports, they were told that they'd send an order to reduce the level of flammables, but that order either never came or it was missed because nothing changed before they got inside and sealed the door.

[@SteveWright-oy8ky]

A 100% pure oxygen atmosphere makes EVERYTHING BURN ! Oxygen saturation is a recipe for assured and complete fire ! Oxygen binds with everything and no matter the materials, it will BURN ! Aluminum, steel, titanium, all fabrics, etc. The problem isn't the use of nylon or Velcro,... the problem is 100% OXYGEN ATMOSPHERE and PRESSURIZING IT !

[@thedie-castaviator4081]

Terrible tragedy. I have an autographed picture of Ed White. As a fan of space topics, it's one of my most prized possessions.

[@onlyme112]

I always learn something new from a Fascinating Horror video. I've seen and read much about Apollo One, but I didn't know the astronauts' burns were survivable.

[@daviddykema209]

Here in Grand Rapids, Michigan. we honor Roger B. Chaffee as our hometown boy. Rest in peace

[@adamhickey396]

Am I right in thinking that had Grissom not been killed, that he was destined to be the first man to walk the moon?

[@Ian_urquhart]

Apollo 1 was never going to go to the moon, I'm not sure whether the Moon landing astronauts had been decided at this stage, or which apollo mission would be first to land. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2Woo6qPg5x1gdE Here is a super awesome documentary about the USA space program from gemini to the end of apollo

[@dylconnaway9976]

That was what most expected in the space program. He had the most experience and was abnormally healthy.

[@ridethasno]

2:15am here in Washington State. Sending love to whoever reads this. ❤️

[@straswa]

Great vid FH, thanks for shedding light on this disaster. RIP to those three brave souls.

[@asteverino8569]

I really liked Grissom's quote about spaceflight. I remember getting up very early, California time, to watch launches. Before Apollo. It was new and exciting and something to awe at.

[@sharonsmith583]

Look forward to Fascinating Horror every Tuesday!

[@dylconnaway9976]

I’d just like to comment about people referencing “The Right Stuff.” That was largely fiction. The writer interviewed surprisingly few people and filled in in the blanks with what he thought would be a good story. Gus Grissom, for instance, wasn’t torn up about losing the Liberty Bell and was believed by the review board. He also didn’t drink or smoke. That was all fiction, and the writer never interviewed the family or anyone that worked with Gus.

[@zpridgen75]

I work at Kennedy Space Center and as an employee I have unrestricted access to most area. Every year, I go out to the remain of LC-34 and just sit to take it in

[@gusfring9895]

Great video as always. I appreciate your dedication to telling the whole story and not just putting up a trashy, sensationalized clip with a clickbait title. I've been a subscriber for several years. 2 minor corrections - 1. John Kennedy was elected in 1960 but didn't become President until January 1961. 2. The landing occurred on July 20 at 3:17 PM Houston time; the moonwalk began at 9:56 PM. The launch was on July 16.

[@MarcColten-us2pl]

I was 17 at the time and I am 73 now. In all that time no one has answered my question. Since they were in space suits, breathing supplied air, why was the capsule filled with oxygen? Why not regular air, or even nitrogen? In high school they always showed steel wool burn in oxygen. Why did the capsule need to be filled with oxygen?

[@lila2028]

How sad, and how very well done this short video is. Rest in peace, Grissom, Chaffee, and White. Rest in Peace.

[@dustyandsneezing]

What's sadder than the actual event is this comment section. Some of you need to get your heads checked.

[@JimmyRJump]

I was born in 1961 but still remember this feat vividly. My parents were among the first to have a TV set along our street and whenever there was something going on like something from NASA the whole street was coming to watch at our place. Coffee and cakes and all that. And a chat about what just occured and visions of the future, as far as you could look in the mid-sixties. But Apollo One was a disaster indeed. Everything was running smoothly, the future was looking bright, nothing bad couls happen and then this, bamm, smack in yer face, out of nowhere we were set back a million years. So sad. Such loss. Of time, people. Damn.

[@goldiloks08]

I didn’t know the bit about the mission patch on the moon! Wow. Thank you for sharing all these stories, and thank you for all the details you include.

[@martinlayne5612]

Great presentation as usual plus a valuable history lesson.

[@aledandrian]

The most confusing aspect of this disaster is that the mission wasn’t even necessary due to the many changes between the Block I version of the spacecraft and the Block II version, which was already under development and intended for use in all the future manned Apollo missions; NASA should’ve realized there was no point in testing a soon-to-be obsolete version of a key component of the program with a crew, even if the mission was thought to be low-risk

[@neogator26]

This one hits home to me. Growing up in Huntsville, Alabama my brothers and wife went to Virgil Grissom High School. Ed White schools closed a few years ago about Chaffee Elementary School is still open. I’ve driven by van Braun’s house a few times over the years. As an aerospace engineering major I have had teachers that worked with van Braun on the Apollo program. Great video! I especially like the somewhat obscure prototype Rogallo wing photo!

[@jamesdreads7828]

as tired as this content can seem sometimes on yt, its cool to see you do some more well known disasters. thanks for the vid!

[@bookaddict777]

I am currently reading a book by Jeffrey Kluger, Apollo 8, where he talks about the Apollo 1 fire and its impact on the flights following, so your video is well-timed for me. What a tragedy this was - and so very preventable!