Apollo Program · Lost crew (ground fire)
Apollo 1
- Launch
- Planned 1967-02-21; never flew
- Return
- Not applicable
- Duration
- Not applicable
Mission summary
Apollo 1 was originally the AS-204 mission, planned as the first crewed flight of the Apollo program. During a ground test on January 27, 1967, a fire in the Command Module's pure-oxygen atmosphere killed all three crew — Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee — within minutes. The mission was officially renamed Apollo 1 at the request of the crew's families. The subsequent investigation forced a comprehensive redesign of the Command Module (the Block II) including a quick-release outward-opening hatch and the elimination of flammable materials in the cabin. Crewed flights resumed 21 months later with Apollo 7.
Crew
| Astronaut | Prior missions | Subsequent missions |
|---|---|---|
|
Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom Commander |
Mercury-Redstone 4 (Liberty Bell 7), Gemini 3 | None — killed in cabin fire |
|
Edward H. White II Senior Pilot |
Gemini 4 (first US spacewalk) | None — killed in cabin fire |
|
Roger B. Chaffee Pilot |
None (first flight) | None — killed in cabin fire |
Launch vehicle
Saturn IB SA-204 (later flown uncrewed as Apollo 5)
Objectives
- Originally designated AS-204, the first crewed Apollo flight.
- Planned 14-day Earth-orbit shakedown of the Block I Command and Service Module.
Milestones
| When | Event |
|---|---|
| 1967-01-27 23:31 UTC | Cabin fire during a ground 'plugs-out' test on Launch Complex 34. The pure-oxygen cabin atmosphere ignited, and the inward-opening hatch could not be opened in time. All three crew killed within minutes. |
| 1967-04-05 | NASA Apollo 204 Review Board final report identified ignition source uncertainty but cited extensive flammable Velcro and pure-O2 atmosphere as compounding factors. |
| 1967-04 |
NASA officially renamed the mission 'Apollo 1' at the request of the crew's families and assigned the Apollo 4 / 5 / 6 numbering to subsequent uncrewed test flights.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo1.html |
| 1968-10-11 |
Apollo 7 — the first crewed Apollo flight after extensive Block II redesign — launched, restoring the program.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo7.html |
Primary sources
Last updated 2026-05-09 15:17 UTC.