[Apollo 1] The first Apollo astronauts; a tragic photograph during NASA training...

[Apollo 1] The first Apollo astronauts; a tragic photograph during NASA training before the crew lost their lives. NASA, 1 November 1966. Printed 1966. Vintage gelatin silver print on heavy fiber-based paper. 25.4×20.3 cm (10×8 in), blank on the verso (NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida).

Astronauts Edward White (foreground), Roger Chaffee (background) and Gus Grissom are pictured during an altitude chamber test. Their spacesuit is fitted with the NASA insignia and the emblem of the Apollo 1 mission. On January 27, 1967, they would die in a fire during a test of the spacecraft at Cape Kennedy’s Launch Complex 34. Their mission was to be the first crewed flight of Project Apollo, scheduled to launch February 21, 1967.

The Commander was NASA’s most senior astronaut and America’s second man in space Commander Gus Grissom. Command Module Pilot was Gemini 4 hero Ed White, the first man to walk in space. Joining them was newcomer Roger Chaffee, who represented the new group of astronauts brought in by NASA to fill out the ranks for the man anticipated missions ahead. (Reynolds, p. 67)

“If we die, we want people to accept it. We’re in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life.” Gus Grissom (from Grissom’s own memoirs ‘Gemini, A Personal Account of Man’s Venture into Space’, published in 1968 after his death by his widow Betty Grissom)

Condition Report:Very nice double-weight matte paper, excellent condition.

Category:Photos ▸ Vintage photographs