On January 27, 1967, three Apollo astronauts were killed during a routine preflight rehearsal at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
The Apollo 1 fire was the first major deadly disaster in the history of the U.S. space program. Apollo 1 was supposed to be the first flight that NASA would conduct to prepare for a crewed landing on the moon. Less than a month before their planned launch date, a fire erupted inside the Apollo command module with all three astronauts trapped inside. Heat caused the air pressure inside the spacecraft to rise, making it impossible for the astronauts to open the hatch, which was designed to open inward. NASA did learn from the tragedy, and they redesigned their spacecraft to be much safer going forward.
The Apollo 1 fire was the first major deadly disaster in the history of the U.S. space program. Apollo 1 was supposed to be the first flight that NASA would conduct to prepare for a crewed landing on the moon. Less than a month before their planned launch date, a fire erupted inside the Apollo command module with all three astronauts trapped inside. Heat caused the air pressure inside the spacecraft to rise, making it impossible for the astronauts to open the hatch, which was designed to open inward. NASA did learn from the tragedy, and they redesigned their spacecraft to be much safer going forward.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day in space.
00:04On January 27, 1967, three Apollo astronauts were killed
00:08during a routine pre-flight rehearsal at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
00:12The Apollo 1 fire was the first major deadly disaster in the history of the U.S. space program.
00:16Apollo 1 was supposed to be the first flight that NASA would
00:20conduct to prepare for a crewed landing on the moon.
00:24Less than a month before their planned launch date, a fire erupted inside the Apollo command module
00:28with all three astronauts trapped inside.
00:32Heat caused the air pressure inside the spacecraft to rise, making it impossible for the astronauts to open the hatch,
00:36which was designed to open inward.
00:40NASA did learn from the tragedy, and they redesigned their spacecraft to be much safer going forward.
00:44And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:48NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology