46 years ago tonight, while conducting a routine test of their spacecraft’s power systems, the crew of Apollo 1–Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White, and Roger B. Chafee–was killed when a fire broke out inside the capsule.
Grissom had been with NASA almost from the beginning, flying missions for both the Mercury and Gemini programs, and White also was a Gemini veteran. The Apollo 1 flight was to be Chaffee’s first space mission.
Their sacrifice, though tragic, ultimately played a monumental role in NASA’s effort toward bettering the machines which soon would fly to the Moon, and ensuring the safety of the men who would take them there.
(L-R: Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, Roger Chaffee)
IN MEMORY
OF
THOSE WHO MADE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE
SO OTHERS COULD REACH THE STARS
AD ASTRA PER ASPERA
(A ROUGH ROAD LEADS TO THE STARS)
GOD SPEED TO THE CREW
OF
APOLLO 1
Bravo and thank you.
Thanks, sir