A sad day in the history of America's part in the space race. On this day in 1967, 3 brave men died while training on the launch pad in a capsule simulator, this tragedy changed many things things, from disaster came progress and most likely saved countless lives.

Rest In Peace Grissom, White and Chaffee.

I highly recommend clicking through the Life article and the pictures of the original story,

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Amen to that.


Life article remembering 3 heroes.


A picture from the pad today, the 45th Space Wing (of which 2 friends are a part of) shared this picture before the ceremony.

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:-).
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Thanks for posting this, I had no idea it was the anniversary.
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Not one mention of it on CNN, seems that justin beiber, jay-z and what north koreans eat are thing that are far more important than the sacrifice these three men made.
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Thanks for sharing Adam. That is pretty cool, especially the picture. I can only imagine the memories this brings back for those people directly involved.
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Yah that's Buzz and a couple of the other surviving Apollo guys. The Life article has many pictures.
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The men and women of the space program get very little recognition anymore for what they do and what they sacrifice by doing it. All for the advancement of the species. It seems like todays news only mentions the ISS if somethings wrong. I live in south Fla so the space program is very much a part of our lives but I always wonder if anyone in the remaining 48 states (Texas gets a pass on this) really cares about the program at all. The wonders we see on a daily basis came at a huge cost and i'm not talking dollars. Repairing or upgrading the Hubble was one of the most dangerous missions and without the men and women who did repair or upgrade you don't get those amazing pictures. I'm certainly not saying this about anyone on this board as I've found many of you really do appreciate them and the space program. It's just frustrating knowing how much the space program has improved our lives and yet if they want to add an additional billion dollars to NASA'a budget everyone gets up in arms about how we need to fix things on earth first. What the hell do you think they're doing up there? drinking tang?


The problems that befell Apollo 1 (AKA "go fever") ultimately led to safety upgrades and improvements that saved the lunar program. Unfortunately without Apollo 1 there is no Apollo 11. Apollo 11 is the greatest moment in history. That's not my opinion that's just a fact and it came at a great sacrifice of three of the finest men NASA ever produced. Many people don't know this but this was the team they were going to use for the first lunar landing. Neil, Buzz, and Mike were chosen only after Apollo 1. Gus understood that the cost of human life was worth it in the end for mans greatest achievement and was even quoted as saying so. Now Gus, Roger, and Ed are soaring through the universe and from time to time I hope they kick around tranquility base together bragging about how they could've done it better. Godspeed Apollo 1
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Thanks for sharing, Adam. :-) :-)
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Sadly, this economy is no longer about technological advancement. Now it is all about entertainment of the dumbed down masses.

Thank you for this solemn reminder of what we valued in years (decades) gone by.
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:-)
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Thanks for sharing. As long as they are remembered, they are never really gone.
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