But the decision to eliminate the use of any gas … Second, nitrogen used with the in-flight pressure reduction carried the risk of decompression sickness(known as "the bends"). One of the worst tragedies in the history of spaceflight occurred on January 27, 1967 when the crew of Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were killed in a fire in the Apollo Command Module during a preflight test at Cape Canaveral. “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White II and Roger B. Chaffee were killed when a fire erupted in their capsule during testing on the launch pad on Jan. 27, 1967. … First, a pure oxygen atmosphere is comfortably breathable by humans at five psi, greatly reducing the pressure load on the spacecraft in the vacuum of space. Astronauts Virgil I.

It has been 50 years since the Apollo 1 fire killed Roger Chaffee at Cape Kennedy’s Launch Complex 34 in Florida. Chaffee, along with astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom and Ed … “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White II and Roger B. Chaffee — on Jan. 27, 1967. The Apollo program changed forever on Jan. 27, 1967, when a flash fire swept through the Apollo 1 command module during a launch rehearsal test. When designing the Mercury spacecraft, NASA had considered using a nitrogen/oxygen mixture to reduce the fire risk near launch, but rejected it based on a number of considerations. The Apollo 1 capsule after the tragic fire that killed three astronauts — Virgil I. FIRE IN THE COCKPIT: The tragedy of Apollo 1 Apollo 1 capsule after the tragic fire which killed astronauts Roger Chaffee, Edward White and …