Conference 7.286::space

    Somewhat on the topic, there is a special on the Boston PBS station
    on the astronauts with most of the talking being done by the atronauts
    themselves.  It got a good review in the Globe this morning.
    
    		Frontline
    		9pm
    
    Good comments Jim.
    
    						Mike

    I suppose that Apollo 1 is easier to forget since it was 20 years
    ago (hardly seems possible) and wasn't on nationwide television.
    
    I walked past a full sized photgraph of Gus Grissom in the foyer of
    Grissom Hall almost everyday of my engineering education at Purdue so
    Apollo 1 is impossible to forget. 
    
    We should endeavor to always remember the brave souls who have paved
    the way for us all.
    
    Don

    
    I, too, will never forget Apollo 1.  That simulated launch was a
    full range support exercise also, and I was the Communications Manager
    of the tracking station on Antigua, BWI supporting that mission.
    
    Gus was also the only one of the original 7 that I got to know
    personally.
    			God bless all 10,
    						Bill
    

    	That must give you a strange feeling, having been right there
    for a such a historic (or infamous) moment.
    
    	If you don't mind my asking, what was Gus Grissom really like?
    Was his portrayl in the book and movie version of THE RIGHT STUFF
    reasonably accurate?  What really caused the hatch on LIBERTY BELL
    7 to blow open prematurely?
                                          
    	As for the APOLLO 1 incident, what did you witness or hear when
    the accident occured?  Have you ever read CHARIOTS FOR APOLLO? 
    It gives what I believe is a very detailed and accurate account
    of that tragedy?  Is it accurate?
    
    	Thank you.
    
    	Larry
    

    I'm sorry to be so slow in answering.....but I'm sure you all know
    about "real work".
    
    I cannot directly answer the questions relating to the two books
    mentioned since I have not read either one (I've just started on
    THE RIGHT STUFF.)
    
    To set the stage; during the early stages of the manned space program
    the PR department of NASA worked very hard to create and maintain
    the image that the original 7 were not mere mortals, but were above
    the rest of us to the point that they were pictured as "superbeings".
    
    Six of the 7 more or less went along with the image building in
    that they were almost never seen or heard except in an official
    capacity especially not mingling with the "common people" who populated
    Cocoa Beach, Fla.  Gus Grissom would not play the game....He loved
    life too much -- He liked to be around people, parties, bar-hop,
    fast cars -- in short he enjoyed living life to the fullest and
    as a result he was the black sheep that tarnished the image that
    NASA was working so hard to maintain and was in the doghouse a
    lot as a result of his lifestyle.
    
    On the day Liberty Bell 7 flew the seas were very rough.  It was
    generally understood by those on the Range at the time that Gus
    did blow the hatch as a result of momentary panic or of getting
    seasick and feeling he needed fresh air or .... we never heard exactly
    what.  This, of course, never came out officially because it did
    not fit with the image mentioned above.  It was officially conceded
    that it was possible that the rough seas caused Gus to accidentally
    "bump" the emergency escape button that blew the hatch cover.
    
    The APOLLO 1 incident happened about 30 minutes before my alarm
    clock went off to get me up for support of that mission so I was
    not in Comm Control where I could monitor the circuits so I don't
    have firsthand knowledge of what was said at the time.  The reports
    that came down to range people later indicated that the capsule
    contractor (North American) had wired the capsule with wire that
    had flammable insulation except for some critical spots as a cost
    reduction measure.  This, in itself would not have been too serious
    but when you consider that the capsule atmosphere was pure oxygen
    or a heavy percent oxygen (I don't remember which) the stage was
    set so that when a spark set the insulation burning the result was
    akin to the high school chemistry experiment of dropping a ball
    of steel wool into a flask of oxygen (instant combustion of the
    steel wool).  The speed and intensity of the fire was such that
    it was almost like an explosive fireball in the capsule.  It happened
    so fast that those inside could not react, and the capsule technicians
    outside on the gantry platform did not have the capibility to blow
    the hatch - they had to unbolt it before they could get in...
    
    I can't recall what we heard was the initial cause of the spark
    but it may well have been the result of teflon cold flow as mentioned
    in another note.
    
    If you know of published accounts that contradict what I said here,
    please forgive me --- its been a long time and my memory is getting
    dim on details that I don't have to hold on to.
    
    And I do have to say that I count myself very lucky to have been
    given the chance to live history in the making during my 12 years
    on the Missle Range...I wouldn't trade it for anything.
    
    					Bill
    

    Re: .5 
    
    First of all, thanks for the interesting personal view of history.
    
    My recollection which is known to be faulty is that not only was
    the atmosphere 100% oxygen but also pressurized as in high altitude
    military aircraft.  There had been a lot of discussion about whether
    a mixed gas atmosphere would be safe relative to blood gases and
    the pressurized oxygen approach was deemed safest from the medical
    point of view.
    
    My understanding was that the astronauts did not share this view
    being very aware of the effects of 100% oxygen environment and also
    being VERY concerned about fire.  I recall that the fire caused
    the atmosphere to move to a more normal atmosphere with several
    inert gases involved.
    
    In retrospect, it would seem a fair parallel to the Challenger with
    the astronauts being ignored until after loss of life.
    
    Don

    re the oxygen atmosphere:  Here is my recollection/understanding
    of the tradeoffs made.  In order to reduce mass (of pressure walls
    as well as air itself) they wanted to run the spacecraft at about
    5 psi.  In order to get a high enough partial pressure of oxygen,
    that meant that it had to be nearly pure oxygen while at the pressure.
    All the fire testing was done at 5 psi, and everything passed. 
    What they did not consider was that on the pad, the pressure had
    to be about the same as ambiant in order for the capsule not to
    implode.  Thus, on the pad, it was running "outside the envelope".
    
    After the fire, they started running it at 20% oxygen while on the
    pad, and switching over to pure oxygen as the pressure dropped on
    the way up.  This implied that the astro's had to wear oxygen masks
    and get all the nitrogen purged from their blood while sitting on
    the pad.
    
    The shuttle works at full sea level pressure and 20% oxygen all
    the time.
    
    Burns
    

    	Twenty one years ago today marks the APOLLO 1 accident, where
    a fire on-board the APOLLO 1 spacecraft killed astronauts Gus Grissom,
    Edward H. White II, and Roger Chaffee.
    
    	Let us hope that their lives were not taken for nothing...
    
    	Larry
       

    	It is very good to know that less than three years after the tragic
    APOLLO 1 fire, APOLLO 11 landed the first men on Earth's moon, Luna, 
    nineteen years ago today.
                                         
    	I hope this wonderful example of returning to space and 
    accomplishing its goals can be followed with the Space Shuttle.
    
    	Larry
    

    	On this date in 1967, twenty-two years ago, Gus Grissom, Ed
    White, and Roger Chaffee died while testing the APOLLO 1 spacecraft
    when a fire broke out inside the vehicle.
    
    	And tomorrow, three years ago, CHALLENGER 51-L was destroyed
    when a faulty SRB caused the external fuel tank to explode 73 seconds
    into the Space Shuttle mission, killing the seven crewmembers aboard.
    
    	Let us hope there won't be any similar "anniversaries" in the
    forseeable future.
    
    	Larry
                                                              

From: [email protected] (Jack Hart)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: A sad anniversery
Date: 26 Jan 90 11:10:41 GMT
 
    I'd just like to point out that Saturday, January 27 is the 23rd
anniversery of the Apollo/Saturn 204 accident, in which Gus Grissom,
Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chafee died of asphyxiation in a
capsule fire during a ground test of their Apollo block 1 spacecraft. 
 
    I do this to point out that NASA is no stranger to major,
dangerous foulups caused by poor planning and weak design. There are
those who say North American had no business building spacecraft,
including Frank Borman in his book Countdown. Grissom apparently
bitched repeatedly about all the glitches that turned up in even the
most basic of systems. 

    I for one am always amazed that no one realized the danger of an
oxygen atmosphere in the presense of electrical wiring. While things 
were redesigned and eventually worked well, this seems a hell of a
price to pay for leaving things to "business as usual", a mentality
that years later resulted in 7 more lives lost on Challenger. In all
the wailing and teeth-gnashing following January 28, 1986 (Sunday is
an anniversery, too, sadly enough) there seemed to be little mention
of the previous accident. 
 
    Personally, I have always felt that exploration and advancement of
science merited the occasional loss of life, just as flight testing
took the lives of many pilots as they experimented with new aircraft
and designs. I also don't think that stopping tests until the
politicians decide it's OK is the right way to go. I just feel that
accidents due to contractor negligence or bureaucratic ineptitude have
no justification or excuse. 
 
    An aside:  Most people refer to Apollo/Saturn 204  as "Apollo 1".
The missio never received this designation, but the name sticks. There
is even a bogus Apollo 1 mission patch: I have one, purchased from a
bootlegger at a local Warbirds meet. This view is so pervasive that
in The Pictorial History Of NASA, edited by Bill Yenne and an
official-type book, it is referred to as Apollo 1 and the patch is
pictured along with the real patches. While this may have been a real
design for the mission, it was never used. I imagine that patches for
later Challenger missions had been designed, too, but they aren't
accepted as official. [Yes, they are official. - LK] 
 
    Sorry for the downer posting, but I felt a little respect was due
those who died for something they felt important. 
 
       Lowell 
-- 
        Jack Lowell Hart, Jr.       [email protected]
                                    [email protected]
                     Great Central Valley Aerospace Club 
               Verein fur Raumschffart, Raketenflugplatz, Fresno

From: [email protected] (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: A sad anniversery
Date: 28 Jan 90 00:59:27 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
 
    In article <[email protected]>
[email protected] (Jack Hart) writes: 

>I for one am always amazed that no one realized the
>danger of an oxygen atmosphere in the presense of electrical wiring...
 
    At 3 psi, the in-space pressure, there is nothing very dangerous
about it. The problem was jacking up the pressure to 15 psi for ground
tests without realizing that this changed the rules. 
 
>An aside:Most people refer to Apollo/Saturn 204  as "Apollo 1". The missio
>never received this designation, but the name sticks. There is even a bogus
>Apollo 1 mission patch...
 
    We had a long battle about this a year or two ago, finally settled
by a bunch of references from the NASA History books.  Apollo
numbering was complicated and confused.  AS-204 was the official
mission designation, but it was also known as SA-204, Apollo 1, and
Apollo 4.  NASA HQ had not assigned an official "Apollo N" designation
at the time of the fire. The crew were calling it Apollo 1, however,
and the badge they designed, with that name on it, had been approved. 
After the fire, the Apollo 1 designation was made 100%, really, truly
official in memory of the dead crew.  Retroactive though it be, that's
its proper name now. 
 
    (To head off further questions...The first post-fire unmanned test
was officially Apollo 4, since there had been three unmanned tests
earlier. Nobody noticed until too late that this clashed with making
Apollo 1 an official name.  The conflict was resolved by officially
refusing to give "Apollo N" names to the three earlier tests.  There
never was an Apollo 2 or Apollo 3; the tests were AS-201, -202, and
-203.  Apollos 4-6 were unmanned tests preceding the manned flights
that started with 7.)  
-- 
1972: Saturn V #15 flight-ready|     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
1990: Birds nesting in engines | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry [email protected]
 

Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: NASA Headline News for 05/02/90 (Forwarded)
Date: 2 May 90 19:16:25 GMT
Reply-To: [email protected] (Peter E. Yee)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, May 2, 1990                Audio Service: 202/755-1788
-----------------------------------------------------------------
    This is NASA Headline News for Wednesday, May 2:
 
    The Apollo 204 spacecraft will be moved from the Langley Research
Center, May 20 and placed in permanent storage in an abandoned missile
silo at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.  The Apollo has
been in storage at Langley Research Center since 1967. 

    [To add to this news, Apollo 204 is better known as Apollo 1, 
the spacecraft in which astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger
Chaffee died in January of 1967 when the craft had an internal fire. 
Apparently the nitrogen environment which was preserving the craft is
no longer functioning properly.  Apollo 1 is being stored in the same
silo where debris from Challenger is also being kept. - LK] 
----------------------------------------------------------------
Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA 
Select TV.  The following times listed are Eastern.
 
    Thursday, May 3:
 
                   11:30 A.M.     NASA Update will be 
                                  transmitted. 
----------------------------------------------------------------
All events and times are subject to change without notice.
These reports are filed daily, Monday through Friday, at 12:00 
Noon, EDT.  This is a service of the Internal Communications 
Branch, NASA Headquarters.

    Re. the "Apollo 1" flight patch
    
    The flight patch for Apollo 204 must have been approved by the time
    of the fire; I have several photos showing the crew posing in front
    of the gantry and training in the command module. In these pictures,
    the 4" flight patch is clearly visible on the spacesuits.
    
    The 4" patch, as far as I can tell, is similar if not identical
    to the one I have in my collection: fully embroidered, with the
    names GRISSOM - WHITE - CHAFFEE in large block letters.  This is
    the usual size for the "official" flight patch.
    
    More commonly seen is the 3" "souvenier" patch, which I acquired
    first.  This type of patch is usually similar to the official patch,
    but has fewer colors.  Also, the background is not embroidered,
    but is the yellow twill backing material.  Finally, the crew names
    and the APOLLO 1 legend are "skinnier", requiring less work to make.
    All these methods result in a patch that is less costly than the
    "official" patch; in this case, the souvenier version is still quite
    attractive.
    
    As I said, I have both sizes of the Apollo 1 patch; I also have
    both sizes of the Challenger 51-L patch.  They all have a special
    place in my collection .... and in my heart.
    
    					--Eric--
      

From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Doing something
Date: 30 May 90 18:34:58 GMT
Organization: PBS:Public Broadcasting Service, Alexandria, VA
 
    On the subject of taking action:  A few weeks ago ABC News had a
story about a student from GMU (that's George Mason University in
Fairfax, VA, USA).  While researching a term paper he accidentally
learned that Apollo 204 still existed and was about to be dumped in a
missile silo.  The student did not think this was a fitting way for the
Apollo 1 capsule to end up.  He believed it should be enshrined in a
museum somewhere and immediately contacted Congressmen, former
astronauts and aerospace museum directors. 

    As a result of his actions, ABC reported that NASA is
reconsidering the whole idea for disposal of the remains.  Several
museums, including the Air and Space Museum in Washington and the
Cosmosphere near Kansas City have expressed interest in acquiring
Apollo 204.  While the matter had not yet been completely settled, 
the student from GMU has set the wheels in motion because he DID do
something.  It is an example to be followed. 

Article: 19858
From: [email protected] (Thad P Floryan)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: THIS WEEK: 25th Anniversary of Apollo I fire (Jan 27, 1967)
Date: 25 Jan 92 12:18:49 GMT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
 
This Monday will be the 25th Anniversary of the Apollo I Fire.
 
On January 27, 1967 at Cape Kennedy FL during pre-flight checkouts, wiring
insulation ignited in the oxygen atmosphere as used in US space missions.
 
The ensuing fire killed Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee.
 
They will be remembered.
 
Needless to say, materials conformance is NOW an important part of ongoing
projects such as the US Space Station.
 
Thad Floryan [ [email protected] (OR) [email protected] ]

Article: 76308
Newsgroups: sci.space,rec.arts.books
From: [email protected] (Tim Szeliga - NWS)
Subject: Grissom killed by Velcro!
Sender: [email protected] (Usenet News Administration)
Organization: University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1993 20:27:32 GMT
 
According the the new book "Angle of Attack: Harrison Storms and the
Race for the Moon", the fire killed Gus Grissom and two others was
caused by the Velcro in the capsule.   It had recently been discovered
by the astronauts, who insisted it be used to secure items that would
float in weightlessness.   North American, the contractor that built
the capsule and the second stage rockets, had okayed its use in the 5
psi atmosphere of pure oxygen that the astronauts would breathe during
the flight. However, a change was made along the way and during the
launch, the cabin would be pressurized to 14psi pure oxygen.  Under
these conditions, the Velcro would ignite like gunpowder. 
 
Now the question comes: what set off the initial spark?  The book,
which is highly sympathetic to Storms and the contractors who actually
built the equipment, said that the investigation showed a wire near
Grissom's foot was kicked out.  Whether this happened before or after
the fire started was not clear, but the supposition is made that
Grissom could have accidentally yanked the wire, causing the spark and
the fire.  In the heated atmosphere surrounding the investigation (and
the thought that Grissom would be blamed for this as well as blowing
the hatch on the Mercury), it was quietly suggested that North
American take the fall for this, for the good of NASA and all the
other contractors and to minimize the political fallout.  Storms and a
number of others lost their jobs as a result. 
 
The real problem is that after the decision was made to pressurize
with pure oxygen to 14 psi, no one went back to do burn tests on all
the equipment. After the fire all subsequent mission had an atmosphere
of oxygen and helium, I think, at the launch pad, which was gradually
replaced with pure oxygen at 5 psi. 
 
Good book, well worth reading.
 
Tim Szeliga        [email protected]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"We will do anything to keep this company alive." - John deLorean

Article: 76328
Newsgroups: sci.space,rec.arts.books
From: [email protected] (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Grissom killed by Velcro!
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1993 23:25:10 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
 
In article <szeliga.751840052@fluke> [email protected] writes:

>According the the new book "Angle of Attack: Harrison Storms and the 
>Race for the Moon", the fire killed Gus Grissom and two others was
>caused by the Velcro in the capsule...
 
That's rather an exaggeration -- I don't think even Angle Of Attack
(which is basically a movie script, full of drama and short on solid
factual information) put it that strongly.  Velcro was one of the many
combustible materials in the cabin.  The cabin was *full* of things
that burned vigorously in 1atm of pure oxygen. 
 
>However, a change was made along the way and during the launch, the
>cabin would be pressurized to 14psi pure oxygen...
 
This makes it sound like a last-minute thing, and it wasn't -- it was
a design decision made very early in the project.  It made the
hardware simpler and lighter, and eliminated at least one serious
safety hazard that had already killed one technician (if it's always
pure oxygen in the cabin, then it's breathable regardless of pressure,
but if it's sometimes oxygen and sometimes air, then the wrong
combination of gas mix and pressure results in lethal hypoxia). 
 
>Now the question comes: what set off the initial spark?  The book, which is
>highly sympathetic to Storms and the contractors who actually built the
>equipment, said that the investigation showed a wire near Grissom's foot
>was kicked out...
 
Actually, the investigation showed nothing of the sort.  It concluded
that the cabin was *full* of potential ignition sources, and there was
no realistic possibility of pinning it down to a single one...
especially since record-keeping had been so slipshod that the exact
state of wiring and such could not be determined precisely after the
fact.  The result was a fundamental change in philosophy, from "no
ignition sources allowed" to "ignition sources are always present, no
significant fire must result". 
 
>The real problem is that after the decision was made to pressurize with 
>pure oxygen to 14 psi, no one went back to do burn tests on all the equipment.
 
It wasn't a question of going "back", since most of the equipment was
designed *after* the decision to use pure oxygen on the pad.  But
nobody ever put two and two together to recognize that the fire hazard
on the pad was much greater than what the equipment was tested for. 
 
>After the fire all subsequent mission had an atmosphere of oxygen and helium,
>I think, at the launch pad, which was gradually replaced with pure oxygen 
>at 5 psi.
 
Not quite right.  The new cabin atmosphere was 60% oxygen, 40%
nitrogen -- about the most oxygen-rich mix that didn't cause severe
flammability problems.  The suits had pure oxygen at slightly higher
pressure, to avoid decompression sickness on the way up.  During
ascent, the cabin pressure was gradually reduced and the mix changed
to pure oxygen; the suit pressures reduced to match. 
 
>Good book, well worth reading.
 
Poor book, quite entertaining but not very accurate.  Rather obviously
meant as a movie, not a book -- lots of people shouting at each other,
lots of dramatic foreshadowing, no attempt at an unbiased treatment.
(For example, there is no more than token mention of North American's
management screwups, some of which are well documented.)  Worth
reading, but not to be taken as accurate history. 
-- 
Study it forever and you'll still       | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
wonder.  Fly it once and you'll know.   |  [email protected]  utzoo!henry

    Just want to say that the Apollo 1 crew is remembered today, 29 years
      after:
    		Gus Grissom - Ed White - Roger Chaffee
    
    And since I won't be at work tomorrow, I remember today the crew of
      Challenger, ten years after:
    
    Dick Scobee		Mike Smith	Judy Resnik	Ron McNair
    Elison Onizuka	Eugene Jarvis	Christa McAuliffe
    
    Godspeed, my friends.
    
    						--Eric--