A quiz question · hard
Why did the Apollo 1 cabin fire on 27 January 1967 spread so explosively?
Pure oxygen at elevated pressure changes the combustion properties of normal materials. Nylon webbing, Velcro, checklists, and foam padding burned explosively. Grissom, White, and Chaffee died of carbon monoxide within 17 seconds. The hatch could not be opened.
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The Pure-Oxygen Apollo Command Module That Caught Fire on the Cape Kennedy Launch Pad on 27 January 1967 and Killed Three Astronauts in 17 Seconds Apollo 1 was a ground rehearsal test, not a launch. At 6:31 p.m. on 27 January 1967 a spark in the pressurised pure-oxygen cabin atmosphere ignited Velcro and nylon webbing. Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee died of asphyxiation within seventeen seconds. The hatch design — inward-opening, requiring 90 seconds to remove — could not be opened against the internal pressure spike.
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