WORLD OF SCIENCE
Early trials
DR. T. V. PADMA
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Beginning with Apollo 1, there were numerous glitches which needed to be ironed out.
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Apollo 1 was launched on January 27, 1967, with astronauts Virgil Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. Shortly after one p.m. they entered the command module. A simulated countdown sequence was initiated. The simulated countdown was stopped because of a communication problem. The problem was corrected. It was already five hours since the crew was in the spacecraft. The astronauts had called earlier because they detected a sour odor in their cabin. Just before the countdown was to begin at 6.31p.m. White shouted “Fire” followed immediately by Grissom saying, “I’ve got a fire in my cockpit” and then the final words “Get us out”.
Yet , even in the final moments the astronauts did not panic but performed their emergency duties. Grissom tried hard to push against the lever that would de-pressurise the cabin immediately. Ed White twisted his body to pull the release grip of the inner hatch. Chaffee remained in his couch trying to maintain communication. It took only five minutes to put out the flames and open the hatches but the astronauts were already dead. They had died within seconds because of the smoke. A subsequent investigation revealed numerous safety hazards most of which related to faulty wiring.
Pressing on
The next few Apollo flights, Apollo 4, 5, and 6 were unmanned. Apollo 4 tested both the spacecraft and rocket systems and the tests were successful. Wernher von Braun called it “the greatest day of my life” Apollo 5 tested the engines of the lunar module, its ascent and descent engines. However Apollo 6 was not a complete success. Fortunately the defects could be corrected and NASA announced that its next flight Apollo 7 would be a manned flight.
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