The tragedy hidden after the moment the US landed on the Moon: The astronaut's body could not be identified!

Before the history of the event that Americans first set foot on the Moon in 1969, NASA experienced tons of cruel aviation tragedy!

Many times, in the space race between the US and the Soviet Union - two opposing powers in the Cold War (1946 - 1989) - history must be bitter to witness the catastrophic aviation tragedies of both countries.

If the Soviets opened the dawn to explore the universe with the event of sending people for the first time to fly out of Earth orbit in 1961, the Americans had a great success with the first program to send Moon to Apollo. First in human history in 1969.

So, the year after the year, the event followed the event, the "Christopher Columbus" of the universe constantly appeared making the dream of thousands of humanity (flying to space, living and working in space). ) a lot more realistic. The aura of victories on aerospace "front" between the US and the Soviet Union makes international publics happy and proud.

Of course, when public opinion praised the great cosmic discoveries of both Americans and Soviets, the inevitable aviation disasters were concealed by the two governments. They did not want to put themselves in a weak position before a strong opponent and before the constant cheering of the world.

For more than 4 decades of the bloodless war, many American talents (and the Soviet Union) have to sacrifice silently so that the afterglows can shine.

Before witnessing two of the most painless tragedy tragedies in NASA's history of space exploration - the space shuttle Challenger exploded after 73 seconds left the launch pad, killing all seven crew members in 1986 ( read the details), and the fate of the shuttle Columbia exploded before returning to the ground, causing seven astronauts to die in 2003 (read details) - then NASA history in particular and American history in general faced the bitter aviation tragedy right when the Soviets were at the height of the pioneer.

The Apollo 1 crash of 1967 was a constant pain in the memories of those who attended Apollo in the 1960s.

One of the "awakening" American events in the space race took place on October 4, 1957: At that time, the Soviet Union successfully launched the world's first artificial satellite named Sputnik 1. straight orbit Earth.

Americans are surprised!

And yet, April 12, 1961: Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin drove the Oriental 1 ship into space. The first human flight out of space, which lasted 108 minutes, became a "hit" to hit the pride of Americans.

Americans fear!

From there, a series of programs to bring people into the universe (Project Mercury), put people on the Moon (Apollo Program) . was immediately implemented by the US.

Under pressure from leaders, NASA is also impatient with its space programs. In the meantime, while the Soviets were still happy with the great event on April 12, 1961 with the "cosmic legend" named Yuri Gagarin, the Americans did not "pick up the sweet fruit". Pain is called Apollo 1.

January 27, 2017 marked the round of 50 years after the worst aviation tragedy in America's history of space exploration.

The Apollo 1 spacecraft, originally named AS-204, is planned to be the ship to carry out the mission of flying into the first cosmic space under NASA's Apollo Moon Landing Program, scheduled to be launched. February 21, 1967.

But on February 21, 51 years ago, it never became an important part of NASA history and the United States, because before that, Apollo had "died" just before the mission to land the Moon.

January 27, 1967

The three-talented American astronaut is Lieutenant Colonel Gus Grissom, pilot Ed White - the first American to enter the universe, and pilot Roger B. Chaffee takes on the task of conducting the Apollo 1 tissue test. simulated at the launch yard of Kennedy Space Center.

If this test succeeds, Apollo 1 will be officially launched into the scheduled space on February 21, 1967.

Apollo 1 crew in 1967.

The test was not dangerous because both the launch vehicle and the Apollo 1 spacecraft were not fueled, and all missile systems were disabled.

13 o'clock the same day,

The crew, after being equipped with full astronaut suits, entered the Apollo 1 command post. This module was designed to fit into three seats. This means that astronauts like "tied up" when seated, fully equipped with Apollo 1's ground and oxygen command system.

Three minutes after the countdown, the boot process starts. All compartment doors are closed, the air inside the module is replaced with 16.7psi pure oxygen, 2psi higher than atmospheric pressure.

When contacting the ground command station, the microphone system malfunctioned. Commander of the ship Gus Grissom said: "How can we land the Moon if we can't contact the crew members as well as the command station !?"

Three astronauts in Apollo 1 command module (Source: NASA).

17:40 pm the same day,

The Apollo 1 test launch is performed again after the troubleshooting team related to the microphone. The countdown test went smoothly until 18:30 - when the crew was completing the final inspection before leaving the module.

9 seconds later,

The command station suddenly heard a cry from an astronaut: "Fire. There's fire here!"

Next was the noise from the other side. The commander of the ship Gus Grissom said in a hurry: "Report . there is a big fire . We are trying to get out . little . little . little ."

No sound was heard but the cry of Apollo 1. crew in pain. Each second passed, and confused the contacts.

Immediately, the rescue team ran to the ship's command chamber. They hope everything is still under control.

But, it's all too late!

Thanks to pure oxygen, the fire burns faster and more violently than ever. High temperatures, dense smoke, inefficient hot-air doors and air masks . all hindered the rescue efforts of those outside the commander's cabin.

The three astronauts' teammates frantically tried to get them out, despite the command module that could explode, indirectly causing a rocket explosion to be used to launch a ship not far away. .

When the pure oxygen in the chamber is almost burned, the flame fades away. But inside it is concentrated CO2 concentration. It takes 5 minutes, people can open the door of the command module. The scene before the eyes of those present on that day became a painful, obsessive memory:

All . Apollo 1's talented astronauts have no vitality. Worse. The cruel fire burned them so distorted that one could not recognize who it was with. Three bodies burned black. Astronaut clothes adhere to the rest of his body. The forensics later had difficulty separating clothes from the crew's remaining flesh and bones.

Apollo 1 crew's remains (Source: NASA).

Immediately after the Apollo 1 devastating fire occurred, NASA's director urgently asked the then-President Lyndon B. Johnson to allow the agency to "secretly" investigate the cause of the incident and promised to report truthfully. the whole thing before letting the public know.

On April 5, 1967, NASA submitted a report of the cause of the Apollo 1 incident to the President.

The forensic corpses examined the corpses, the main cause of death for all three astronauts was the cardiac arrest due to high CO ₂ concentrations. The different burn levels of the crew are not the main cause of their deaths. The burn levels were determined to occur after three astronauts died.

Also under autopsy, commander Gus Grissom suffered a level 3 burn. The astronaut level was completely destroyed; The pilot Ed White suffered a second-degree burn. His clothes were completely burnt; Pilot Roger B. Chaffee suffered a level 3 burn, part of his clothing was badly burned.

About the cause of the fire, NASA reported:

1. First , the ignition source may be related to "Apollo 1 power wiring system" or may be due to "water pipes carrying flammable and corrosive coolant on board".
2. Second , the oxygen source in the chamber is much higher than the atmospheric pressure.
3. Third , a closed (modular) cabin is not easy to close and close, making it difficult to escape in an emergency situation.
4. Fourth , in the command cabin there are too many burning materials.
5. Fifth , the rescue work inside and outside the cabin is incomplete and inefficient.

The mission of Apollo after the Apollo 1 cruel event on January 27, 1967 changed completely later. 18 months after the accident, three US astronauts sacrificed, NASA again made the mission to send people to the Moon. And they succeeded.

On July 20, 1969, two years after the death of Apollo 1 crew, Americans landed in the Moon successfully. They officially became the pioneer country in the race for Earth's natural satellite. Temporarily leaving the Soviets in the Moon exploration mission costs billions of dollars.

Back in the 1960s, a former NASA astronaut once confessed: "When the leadership aims to land the Moon in less than 10 years is an overwhelming ambition!"

Because perhaps, Apollo 1's tragedy could end all Americans' attempts to reach the Moon if America itself is not caught up in a massive race into space with the Cold War Soviets.

The pressure before a mighty Soviet Union in the universe left American leaders uneasy.

Before the political attempts and the ambition to overtake the Soviet Union, the United States put pressure on NASA. The formula for aviation disaster was solved when NASA had to make one of the most ambitious and difficult missions in its history.

In fact, Apollo 1 is not a modified version of the Gemini spacecraft, it is a completely new spaceship and Apollo 1 has about five years of development, but it is not ready to fly in January. 1967 that fate.

When prompting despite flying safety principles plus political intrigues, the disaster is understandable. This lesson is probably the most imbued NASA.

From a humanistic perspective, the sacrifice of the three American cosmic talents on the Apollo 1 ship, which had yet to take off in space, helped NASA gain experience for safer later flights.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins became the first people in world history to land on the Moon on the Apollo 11 ship on July 20, 1969.

We must remember the saying in the time when astronaut Neil Armstrong put his first foot on the Moon: "This is a small step of a man, but a giant step of humanity."

Apollo 1 crew (left to right): Gus Grissom, Ed White, Roger B. Chaffee.(Source: NASA)

To commemorate the merits of three Apollo 1 astronauts, the formal American placed the body of Commander Gus Grissom and pilot Roger Chaffee at Arlington National Cemetery. Pilot Ed White is buried at West Point Cemetery on the campus of the US Military Academy in West Point, New York.

Their names are on the list of astronauts who died on the mission, engraved on the Space Mirror Memorial at Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida.

US President Jimmy Carter awarded the Medal of Honor to Gus Grissom on October 1, 1978. President Bill Clinton awarded the medal of the same kind to Ed White and Roger Chaffee on December 17, 1997.

NASA dedicated the "Memorial Day - Day of Remembrance" to commemorate the three memorable tragedies in the history of the agency, including: Apollo 1 - Challenger - and Columbia.

The history forever captures the great contributions of cosmic heroes, thanks to them, not only Americans, but all humans have made great strides in the exploration of space.