THE APOLLO 1 CREW
These heroes met a tragic fate in the name of progress
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Following the success of the Mercury and Gemini programs in the 1960s, NASA set about planning a series of F manned missions to the Moon that would become known as the Apollo missions, under direction of John F. Kennedy to land a man on the Moon by 1970. Apollo 1 was to be the first manned mission, and although it wouldn’t travel to the Moon itself, it was intended to test important technologies in Earth orbit with Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee on board. Tragically, the spacecraft was destroyed in a cabin fire during a launchpad test.