Page 10 - The Appollo Story

~------------1 The Apollo Story t-----------

Apollo 1 (AS-204) - Apollo's Darkest Hour
Suddenly a voice was heard over the intercom, 'Fire! We've got a fire in the cockpit! ' It had started by
Grissom's feet at the bottom of the left-hand couch, most likely sparked by a faulty wire. The fire rapidly
took hold in the oxygen-rich environment. Six seconds into the incident instruments recorded an abrupt
rise in both pressure and temperature. Saturated with oxygen, the cushioning covering the walls, even the
netting designed to stop loose items floating about, all burned with the ferocity of a blowtorch. Grissom
and White struggled to get the two-piece hatch open, but opening-inwards it was held tight by the mount-
ing internal pressure and six secure sockets. Even in the best of conditions it might have taken them a
minute and a half to get it open. In these conditions it was impossible.

27JAN19ZO

AIM

·Saturn 5
. ISG ,,IKARUS" 7779 Stadel/Bodensee

A Saturn V cover dated the third anniversary of the fire with an Ajman Apollo 1 stamp of Chaffe, White
and Grissom.

Did You Know?
The first EVA
(commonly referred to as
a "space walk") was per-
formed by Alexey
Leonov from the Vosk-
hod 2 spacecraft on 18
March 1965 for 12 min-
utes. Leonov had no
means to control his mo-
tion other than pulling on
his 50.7-foot (15.5 m)
tether