Fifty-five years ago on this date, astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee died during a test of their Apollo spacecraft on the launch pad.
Grissom had flown the Mercury 4 suborbital flight in July 1962 to become the 2nd American in space, and commanded the Gemini 3 flight in March 1965.
White was the first American to walk in space on his Gemini 4 flight in June 1965.
Chaffee was scheduled to make his first space flight just a few weeks later.
I remember this really well even though I was only in Grade 4. I read Grissom's excellent autobiography a few years later. He had only completed it a few weeks before the fire. At 40 he was the first Mercury astronaut to die. John Glenn was the last just a few years ago - he was around 95.
Grissom had flown the Mercury 4 suborbital flight in July 1962 to become the 2nd American in space, and commanded the Gemini 3 flight in March 1965.
White was the first American to walk in space on his Gemini 4 flight in June 1965.
Chaffee was scheduled to make his first space flight just a few weeks later.
I remember this really well even though I was only in Grade 4. I read Grissom's excellent autobiography a few years later. He had only completed it a few weeks before the fire. At 40 he was the first Mercury astronaut to die. John Glenn was the last just a few years ago - he was around 95.