Author Topic: NASA Langley Research Center: Apollo 1 (CM-012) Robert Pearlman

Editor Posts: 42988

From: Houston, TX

Registered: Nov 1999 posted 02-17-2007 05:38 PM NASA release NASA moves Apollo 1 capsule to storage facility NASA moved the Apollo 1 capsule and related materials about 90 feet to a newer, environmentally-controlled warehouse at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., on Saturday, Feb. 17. The move provides better protection for the spacecraft. Despite routine repairs made throughout the years, the original secure storage container where the vehicle was housed has been deteriorating. NASA officials determined that, due to its age, the container could not be maintained effectively to preserve the capsule. Astronauts Lt. Col. Virgil I. Grissom, Lt. Col. Edward H. White, and Roger B. Chaffee died when a flash fire swept through the spacecraft during a launch pad test at Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Jan. 27, 1967. Originally known as the AS-204 mission, it was renamed Apollo 1 in honor of the crew. As directed by the Apollo 204 Review Board, the capsule has been maintained at Langley. The review board's accident report made recommendations that led to design and engineering changes and increased the overall safety for future Apollo missions and six successful lunar landings. Robert Pearlman

Editor Posts: 42988

From: Houston, TX

Registered: Nov 1999 posted 02-17-2007 10:04 PM For those unfamiliar with the original "secure storage container" used to house the Apollo 1 command module and its related materials for the past 40 years, these NASA photos (scans courtesy J.L. Pickering via Mark Gray) were taken on April 20, 1990. Langley Storage facility which housed remains of Apollo 1 spacecraft. Some of the 81 cartons of related hardware and investigative data that occupied the 3,330 cubic feet of storage space. The Apollo 1 command module as seen in storage at Langley Research Center in Virginia. In May 1990, NASA announced plans to move the hardware to permanent storage with the Challenger debris in an abandoned missile silo at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), Florida. However, at month's end, NASA announced it had decided to keep the capsule at Langley for an indefinite period of time. Robert Pearlman

Editor Posts: 42988

From: Houston, TX

Registered: Nov 1999 posted 02-18-2007 09:13 AM The Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot reports about the Apollo 1 capsule's move. [Langley spokesman Chris] Rink said the capsule was partly disassembled during the fire investigation in 1967, so two large pieces needed to be moved on Saturday - an inner shell and the outer shell that most people recognize as the capsule. Both pieces were lifted by crane onto a flatbed truck for transport to the new building. Some boxes also were moved, he said. Workers had a safety briefing at 7:30 a.m. and finished the move by 3 p.m. Robert Pearlman

Editor Posts: 42988

From: Houston, TX

Registered: Nov 1999 posted 05-30-2014 04:00 AM Roger Launius, associate director for collections and curatorial affairs at the National Air and Space Museum, adds details to the question Whatever Became of the Apollo 1 Spacecraft? Several times individuals and institutions have requested that this spacecraft be placed on display either in whole or pieces of it as a means of commemorating the sacrifice of the astronauts and the risky nature of spaceflight. NASA has always refused these entreaties, arguing that it would cheapen the memory of the lost astronauts. In 1990 it tried to entomb the capsule in a missile silo at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base along with the debris from the Challenger accident, but a public campaign led by David Alberg accusing NASA of trying to "bury" its disasters ended that. bwhite1976

Member Posts: 281

From: Belleville, IL

Registered: Jun 2011 posted 05-30-2014 11:12 AM At the very least I wish they would preserve the capsule. Preserve the capsule and not display it. That would be fine. At least put it in a stable state so that future generations will have a chance to learn/study/view it. Fra Mauro

Member Posts: 1587

From: Bethpage, N.Y.

Registered: Jul 2002 posted 05-30-2014 11:16 AM I'm not sure if NASA ever spends money preserving artifacts, much less on something that was one of the agency's worst moments. If it hasn't been done since 1967, don't count on it.