Page 73 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - Jan-Feb 2018, Vol 27, No 1

From The Page Of Fringe News 73

The Apollo 1 Conspiracy;

Did NASA Cover Up Gus

Grissom’s Death?

Continued from Page 72

The Grissom Family’s Outrage

In 1999 the charred remains of the test module
that trapped Grissom and his two colleagues
was opened up for his family to see. Scott
noticed a fabricated metal plate behind a switch
on one of the instrumentation panels. He
believed that the switch was used to deliberately
create a spark that would have ignited the cabin,
killing Grissom and the other astronauts.
This story was supposedly backed by an
aerospace contractor who worked for
McDonnell-Douglas, a company that later The astronauts up and detected a foul odor in the breathing
merged with Boeing. Scott Grissom believed The Apollo 1 crew commander, Virgil "Gus" oxygen, which took about an hour to fix. Then
that NASA didn’t want his father to be the first Grissom, was an Air Force veteran of the the communications system acted up. Shouting
man on the moon after his botched Liberty Bell Korean War. He was chosen was among through the noise, Grissom vented: "How are we
7 landing. He said he believed that NASA might NASA's first group of seven astronauts, the going to get to the moon if we can't talk between
not have trusted him and was likely upset with Mercury Seven. Grissom was America's second two or three buildings?"
Grissom’s outspoken frustration with the person in space in 1961. On that mission, With communications problems
technical difficulties in the Apollo program. Mercury's Liberty Bell 7, the hatch door blew dragging on, the practice countdown was held.
But Scott Grissom said that he’s not for unknown reasons upon splashdown. Then at 6:31 p.m. came a frightening word from
exactly sure why NASA or the government Grissom ended up in the water and was rescued the spacecraft: "Fire."
would want to prevent his father from by a helicopter (which at first tried, in vain, to Deke Slayton, who oversaw crew
continuing in the program, to the extent that pick up the spacecraft; the spacecraft was later selections at NASA and was present for the test,
they would sabotage him, but he believes it was pulled from the ocean floor in 1999). could see white flames in a closed-circuit
intentional. And Gus Grissom’s wife, Betty, also Some in the Astronaut Office were television monitor pointing toward the
agrees with her son, saying that she too believes skeptical that Grissom's reputation would spacecraft. The crew struggled to get out.
her husband was murdered. In the end, recover (many believed Grissom blew the Technicians raced to the scene, trying to fight
Grissom’s eerie, prophetic statement to his wife hatch; he swore he didn't). However, Grissom the fire with extinguishers amid faulty breathing
was right, the first serious accident in the space successfully commanded the first Gemini flight, masks. At last, the door was open, but it was too
program did involve him. Gemini 3, and was selected to do the same for late.
Apollo.
Apollo 1: The Fatal Fire Fellow spaceflight veteran Ed White, an The aftermath and changes
Air Force lieutenant colonel, was the first A NASA review board found a stray spark
Space.com
American to make a spacewalk, on Gemini 4 in (probably from damaged wires near Grissom's
1965. The images of him soaring in space for 23 couch) started the fire in the pure oxygen
The Apollo program changed forever on Jan. minutes are still frequently seen today; it is environment. Fed by flammable features such as
27, 1967, when a flash fire swept through the considered one of history's most memorable nylon netting and foam pads, the blaze quickly
Apollo 1 command module during a launch spacewalks. spread.
rehearsal test. The three men inside perished Roger Chaffee was a seasoned Navy Further, the hatch door — intended to
despite the best efforts of the ground crew. It lieutenant commander who joined the program keep the astronauts and the atmosphere securely
would take more than 18 months, and extensive in 1963. Although a rookie in space, he had inside the spacecraft — turned out to be too
redesigns, before NASA sent more men into spent years supporting the Gemini program, tough to open under the unfortunate
space. most publicly as CapCom on Gemini 4. Now circumstances. The astronauts had struggled in
NASA had a lofty goal, set by President getting a chance to fly after five years in the vain to open the door during the fire, but the
John F. Kennedy in 1961, to land a man on the program, he said, "I think it will be a lot of fun." pressure inside the spacecraft sealed the door
moon and return him safely to Earth by the end and made it impossible to open.
of the decade. Earlier Mercury and Gemini Gone in an instant The board listed a damning set of
flights had been the first steps toward that goal, circumstances, failures and recommendations
Every astronaut in the Apollo program had
testing how humans behaved in space and how for future spacecraft designers to consider.
flight experience, and many were test pilots.
to do technical spacecraft procedures such as The U.S. Senate conducted its own
They were used to seeing machines under
rendezvous. Now the Apollo missions would investigation and hearings and published
development and dealing with delays, and
take astronauts all the way to the moon for recommendations of its own, while saying
assessing the airplanes' readiness for flight. In
orbital missions and landing missions. The first NASA's failure to report its problems with
the view of many of these astronauts, the Apollo
manned mission — an Earth-orbiting mission Apollo "was an unquestionably serious
command module just wasn't ready yet.
— was originally designated Apollo Saturn- dereliction."
Engineering changes were still in progress as
204, or AS-204, but was later renamed Apollo 1. Decades later, NASA recalls the Apollo
NASA prepared for the countdown test.
The Apollo 1 fire was a difficult time for 1 incident every January in an annual Day of
On his last visit home in Texas, Jan. 22,
NASA and its astronauts, but the improvements Remembrance. It also honors the Challenger and
1967, Grissom grabbed a lemon off a citrus tree
in astronaut safety allowed the agency to Columbia crews, who died in 1986 and 2003,
in the backyard. His wife, Betty, asked what he
complete the rest of the program with no further respectively. Further, an exhibit honoring the
was going to do with it. "I'm going to hang it on
fatalities. The agency also met Kennedy's goal Apollo 1 crew was opened at the Kennedy Space
that spacecraft," he answered as he kissed her
of landing a man on the moon in 1969, during Center in 2017, displaying the hatches that were
goodbye. He hung it on the flight simulator after
Apollo 11. on the spacecraft. The exhibit was done in
he arrived at the Cape.
The morning of the test, the crew suited consultation with the astronauts' families. []