posted 10-25-2005 07:54 AM               

The suits are in "poor" condition thanks to NASA. They were never hermetically sealed like the interior spacecraft components were. Dr. Berry's reports were also ruined by high atmospheric moisture. This was the result of NASA shutting off the nitrogen purge after the ten year mandate ended. Interesting note... the viles of blood that were removed from the crew members were placed in plastic bags and are okay.

There is still remnants of the spacesuits in the form of white powdered flakes on the spacecraft floor below the hatch.

I attempted to discuss with NASA a method of drying the suits out by using a centrifuge, but they were not interested and told me to mind my own business. Another side of NASA.

posted 10-25-2005 01:46 PM            

The viles of blood, are they also in the storage down at Langley? And what was the purpose of keeping this blood?

posted 10-25-2005 02:43 PM               

I don't know if that was intended, but it's there.

Most of these copies of the recordings end just before the accident. At least one of them does not.

posted 10-25-2005 03:45 PM               

What I have read suggests displaying the outer shell only. I believe the entire spacecraft should be reassembled with the hatch on or off. In fact, if the service module still exists (the NASM doesn't know what happened to it), the entire CSM of Apollo 1 should be put on display in my opinion.

posted 10-25-2005 07:15 PM               

As for the black channel tapes, you are correct. They are now in the archives, but they were originally stored in the sealed storage facility, as were all of the photos and findings. Years later they were retrieved, but the photos were heavily damaged. The black channel tapes of the fire itself will NEVER be released to anyone including the immediate families - thanks to Betty Grissom. Long story that I do not want to discuss with the public.

As for the spacecraft and related components being shipped to the Cape and buried in the silos, this was attempted once (and blocked). NASA was forced to ship everything back to Langley.

posted 10-25-2005 08:37 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Aztecdoug:
I believe I saw it on display at Liberty Park in NJ with Liberty Bell 7 back in the Spring of 2001. I assumed it was traveling with Liberty Bell 7.

---

posted 10-26-2005 11:08 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by John Charles:
I saw that same suit with the travelling Liberty Bell exhibit.

---

posted 10-28-2005 08:33 AM               

Now it is entirely possible since the suits melted and were glued or cemented to the CM metal that when the bodies were removed that caused additional damages to the suits.

Perhaps somoene can shed some light on what Roosa observed of the suit conditions on the evening of January 27, 1967.

posted 10-28-2005 01:18 PM               

As I said in my earlier post you can still see shredded white flakes of spacesuit material below the hatchway sill on the floor of the spacecraft upon the melted mattress pads. This is where the tangled bodies of Grissom and White were found... still reaching for the hatch and fused together to the floor of the spacecraft and fused to the mattress pad. As a matter of fact Ed White's handprint can clearly be seen permanently etched into the hatch.

This white spacesuit material can also be seen in the gutted interior cockpit shots right after the fire in the seat area.

Having been inside Apollo 1 I observed a number of interesting things. One thing in particular that caught my attention was the obvious pathway of the fire and the vast difference in temperature ranges, and extent of damage. In some places it was hot enough to melt stainless steel, and yet in other places blue velcro (Grissom's and Chaffee's side) was not damaged at all.

As for someday displaying Apollo 1 I really don't think it should be restored. It should be left as is for the sake of history and for future generations and possible analysis down the line in years to come when technology improves. If it is going to be on display it should be done tastefully with closed hatches and blacked out windows. The interior parts would not need to be installed.

One idea that we were kicking around was displaying it out at launch complex #34 directly below the opening of the launch pedestal below ground level in the equipment room. In other words as you walk under the launch pedestal dead center below you would be Apollo 1. The viewer would look through glass and observe the entire spacecraft from a top angle.

posted 10-28-2005 02:49 PM               

I also think your idea of putting it on display under the launch pedestal is worthy of consideration but I think preserving it outdoors in the Florida climate would take its toll. I was shocked at the condition of LC-34. You look at the crew photos of Apollo 1 in front of the Service Structure, Gantry and blockhouse and the place looked like a beehive of activity back in the day. It was really hard for me to get an idea of where everything once stood as it would have for Apollo 1 and 7.

I think the same could be said for the conditions of LC-19 and LC-14 as well.

posted 10-28-2005 05:07 PM               

I don't agree that the inner pressure hull should be left out. At some point, something will have to be done with it anyway. If it is not included with the outer shell then eventually the pressure shell will be disposed of in some manner, thus it will be lost. As a historic artifact that doesn't seem right.

The USS Arizona is on display, so why not the complete Apollo 1 spacecraft?

Of course a full reconstruction of the Apollo 1 spacecraft would be more expensive. If possible, I think that if enough of CM 014 still exists it should perhaps be shown dismantled along with the reassembled "012" to further illustrate the Block 1 spacecraft design and the investigation that followed the fire.

posted 10-29-2005 01:49 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by spaceman1953:
Ditto that on the suits...have never seen these pics.

---

posted 10-30-2005 02:48 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by carmelo:
Apollo Block 1 suits with beta cloth cover layer for Schirra crews in spring of 1967 perhaps is this?

---

posted 11-03-2005 07:26 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Brock:
Is that the same building as the "infirmary" in the Cape industrial area that one passes on the Then and Now Tour?

---

This is the same building that the bodies of the Apollo 1 crew members were first transported to after the fire and examined, each in a separate unit. The medical facility is less than 2 miles from Pad 34 where the tragic fire took place. The white transport van that took the Apollo 1 crew to the pad test went right by the dispensary as it turned left on Hangar from NASA Causeway East, altogether about a 5-mile trip from KSC's crew quarters to the Saturn 1B launch complex.

Re: Apollo 1 spacecraft "post-fire" future, and/or, what should happen to it; I think Rick and many others know my position on this, however, to physically support any sort of public viewing of Spacecraft 012 at or even near LC-34 will poise many difficult and challenging concerns and problems, let alone, long-term money support. It would be nice, in my opinion, to get the first manned Apollo ship out of Langley's storage and... somehow... display the craft in the most delicate, tasteful, and appropriate means that could make everyone happy. But that may be an impossibility -- at this time -- as some family members would not approve any such action, and not to mention mixed reactions within NASA/NASM as well.

If the capsule was to be displayed in the future, like Rick, I don't think at all it should be restored, No, keep her as she was after the fire investigation and block out the windows.

It was even discussed years/decades ago about the possibility of placing Apollo 1 inside 34's blockhouse, under the pedestal at the pad, or somewhere nearby. But such possibilities, as mentioned before, are just not practical at the moment. I don't think the Apollo Command Module would even fit inside the main doors of the blockhouse (I'll have to recheck on that along with the service entry area of the control center), as I would hate to see it disassembled in pieces just to accomplish such a feat. More damage of such a move could be done to the aging spacecraft and the cost alone, in a number of ways, is just not feasible in my opinion.

posted 11-05-2005 02:53 PM               

It's possible that the spacecraft could be reassembled only as a shell, with the heat shields installed and windows blacked out using volunteers in the area that worked on the craft or in the program.

Regarding CM 014 being scrapped, when Spacecraft 014 was brought to the PIB, it was used to develop removal procedures to disassemble Spacecraft 012. As each part was removed from 014, the engineers wrote the procedures so that each part of 012 was removed in proper sequence, listing removal torques for the bolts, screws, tubing "B" nuts and electrical connections.

This verified that each part of 012 was not damaged with the dis-assembly techniques.

When it was all over, spacecraft 014 was just a pile of parts, with the main shell intact. Many of these items were then used as spare parts on Spacecraft 017 and 020 (unmanned), or shipped back to Downy since there was nothing wrong with them and would not be needed in the future.

No one seems to know where the main hull of 014 went to, but it is possible that it was also shipped back to Downy, California, since it still belonged to NAA and had not been accepted by NASA. I don't believe that it would have been scrapped at KSC because of the materials involved.

I'm sure that it joined other hulks of previous craft used in previous testing and was scrapped there.

Regarding the suits, the pictures that have been published by NASA shows that the suits were heavily damaged, certainly not in the pristine white condition that was later described.

The condition of the suits could not be determined that night during the rescue attempts because of the short times that we were in the spacecraft. I'll have to accept the opinion of those that removed the bodies later as to what they found.

I think that when Cernan described what they found, it was to counteract a news release issued shortly after the fire from an unidentifiable source by a newspaper that said the astronauts had been completely burned up.

This could have come from the fact that Gus was under his seat and Ed had slipped off the center seat and was down in the open space between the seat and airframe where he had slumped over.

When we removed the inner hatch, it would only go so far as it was lodged against Ed's body. This blocked about half of the hatch opening, restricting our entry into the craft until we could get the hatch to finish falling.

To someone looking in, it would appear that both astronauts had been incinerated since their seats were empty.

posted 06-10-2013 03:51 PM               

The limo was reconfigured by the Secret Service before it was retired. The Lincoln chair has not been restored.

I feel that the Apollo 1 capsule (or what is left of it) could and should be tastefully displayed. Especially now while we still have people who were there that could be involved in helping to create the display.

Pad 34 might be a hard place to display it, with it being on the Cape Canaveral side, but maybe a location at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex near the Space Mirror could be possible site.