50 years ago

[gotbeer]

‘We have a fire in the cockpit!’ The Apollo 1 disaster 50 years later.

 

[Amazing Larry]

These guys had some serious balls. 

[maximus p]

I went to Apollo Jr. High.  Named for these 3 pioneers.

[Blarg]

Our junior High took two hours off campus and walked down Rosecrans  to watch the ceremony to establish Virgil Gus Grissom Park, four years after the fatal fire. At the time it was only grass and a couple trees planted and didn't seem like much of a park. 

[Vegas Halo Fan]

I grew up in northern Florida, and there were a lot of ties to the space program. This hit the entire state hard when it happened. Jacksonville named one of their newly-built high schools after Edward White.

[Tank]

in the movie apollo 13 there was a very touching scene. tom hanks goes in to tell his son about the death of his three friends in the apollo 1 fire. the son asks why they died and hanks tells him it's because the door couldn't be opened from the inside.

months later, when apollo 13 has their accident, the mom goes in to tell the son that his dad was in an accident in space. the boy looks at the mom and says, "was it the door?" i just about lost it the first time i saw that scene.