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Author
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Topic: Lack of a book dedicated to Apollo 1
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Fra Mauro
Member Posts: 1736
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 06-17-2018 03:40 PM
   
With all the interest, even today, about the Apollo 1 tragedy, I'm surprised that there hasn't been a book totally dedicated to the fire. There have been books, good and not so good about the Challenger and Columbia losses. Maybe it's because several excellent accounts of the Apollo program have done justice to the subject. |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4311
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 06-17-2018 05:55 PM
It is my understanding that one time member Stephen Clemmons who sadly passed away a couple of years ago, and who was working on the pad the night of the fire was working on a book.I can only hope that one day somebody can do something with Stephen's story as it was pretty well advanced if my memory serves me right. |
Fra Mauro
Member Posts: 1736
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 06-18-2018 08:08 AM
Yes, I really gained from his messages. I hope his book is finished someday soon. There is a need for a detailed account of the construction of the spacecraft and the investigation that began on Pad 34 the night of the fire. |
onesmallstep
Member Posts: 1327
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007
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posted 06-18-2018 09:42 AM
There has been one book about the fire, Murder on Pad 34 by Erik Bergaust (GP Putnam's Sons-NY, 1968). But it is too close to the events of the fire to put some perspective on it and the space program as a whole, and as the title suggests it is a damning indictment of NASA leadership despite Bergaust's pro-space credentials. |
Fra Mauro
Member Posts: 1736
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 06-18-2018 03:17 PM
I owned that book for years. While there is truth in the story, there is plenty of sensationalism in the book. |
Dave Shayler
Member Posts: 149
From: Halesowen, West Mids, UK
Registered: Dec 2009
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posted 06-20-2018 10:42 AM
I agree that an authoritative work on the background to the Apollo 1 mission, tragedy and its aftermath is long overdue. However, it is still a painful memory for many who worked at NASA or at contractors at the time, of course for the families involved and many who still remember those awful events of January 27, 1967. Therefore anyone who attempts such a work would have to be aware of the emotion and impact the events of that January day still have in the hearts and minds of many Americans. I was only 11 at the time but over 50 years later, even I clearly recall the moving memorial service we held at the school on Monday morning following the accident. That small service at my school in Birmingham England on January 30, 1967, still touches my heart. Naturally, I touched on the story of Apollo 1, but only briefly in my Space Disasters book in 2000. Then in the Apollo Lost and Forgotten Missions title in 2002 I decided to record what Apollo 1 would have done had it flown which proved to be a an interesting research project as many accounts had overlooked the lost mission of Apollo 1. But there is so much more to that dark period in American spaceflight history that it deserves an authoritative well-researched account. What I have also been surprised about is the lack of a detailed biography of Ed White. There are many titles about Gus Grissom, and rightly so, and at least one recording the life and achievements of Roger Chaffee but where is the story of Ed White? We have numerous accounts of America's first man in space, first in orbit, first to walk on the moon, first American women in space and many more, but very little on the first American to walk in space. In addition to his Air Force career, he was an Olympic contender for athletics in 1952, then there was his involvement in early parabolic flights in the late 1950s, and of course, there are his experiences in Gemini even before any mention is made of Apollo 1. He had an eventful and interesting life worthy of recording for history. In researching Gemini 4 I have enjoyed learning more about him from the official and contemporary documentation, but surely he deserved a factual book-length account of his life, achievements, and character. I remain in hope that one day... |
Fra Mauro
Member Posts: 1736
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 06-22-2018 05:49 PM
An Ed White biography would really be fantastic!I agree that it still is painful to remember the fire (I was 5 at the time and reading portions of "Calculated Risk" was upsetting to me), but time is moving on. Many of those who were there are gone, like the pad crew who opened the hatches, so I would think it would be better to interview those who are still with us. |
Henry Heatherbank
Member Posts: 281
From: Adelaide, South Australia
Registered: Apr 2005
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posted 06-22-2018 09:48 PM
Agreed, on all counts. Plus no such sensitivities seem to have prevented numerous books about the Challenger and Columbia incidents. Also, the Apollo 1 aftermarh has a widely accepted "positive element" commented on by many, that the 20-or-so month downtime ultimately led to much needed changes to the entire program that allowed a 1969 landing.
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KSCartist
Member Posts: 2958
From: Titusville, FL
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 06-23-2018 05:56 PM
Ed White III is working on a book about his father. |
Dave Shayler
Member Posts: 149
From: Halesowen, West Mids, UK
Registered: Dec 2009
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posted 06-24-2018 02:21 AM
That is good to hear... look forward to it. Do you know when it is expected to be published? |
Henry Heatherbank
Member Posts: 281
From: Adelaide, South Australia
Registered: Apr 2005
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posted 02-19-2021 07:06 AM
quote:
Originally posted by KSCartist:
Ed White III is working on a book about his father.
Any update on this one? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 45632
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-19-2021 09:01 AM
I do not know the status of Ed White III's book, but to update this thread on the original question, there is now an upcoming book devoted to the subject: Apollo 1: The Tragedy That Put Us on the Moon by Ryan Walters.Walters' book is due out in May 2021. |
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