Editing Apollo program (section)

====Apollo 1 fire====
[[File:Apollo 1 fire.jpg|thumb|right|Charred Apollo 1 cabin interior]]
{{main|Apollo 1}}

Grissom, White, and Chaffee decided to name their flight Apollo{{nbsp}}1 as a motivational focus on the first crewed flight. They trained and conducted tests of their spacecraft at North American, and in the altitude chamber at the Kennedy Space Center. A "plugs-out" test was planned for January, which would simulate a launch countdown on LC-34 with the spacecraft transferring from pad-supplied to internal power. If successful, this would be followed by a more rigorous countdown simulation test closer to the February 21 launch, with both spacecraft and launch vehicle fueled.<ref name="sea4">{{cite book |first=Robert C. Jr. |last=Seamans |author-link=Robert Seamans |publisher=NASA History Office |title=Report of Apollo 204 Review Board |chapter=Description of Test Sequence and Objectives |url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/Apollo204/desc.html |date=April 5, 1967 |access-date=October 7, 2007}}</ref>

The plugs-out test began on the morning of January 27, 1967, and immediately was plagued with problems. First, the crew noticed a strange odor in their spacesuits which delayed the sealing of the hatch. Then, communications problems frustrated the astronauts and forced a hold in the simulated countdown. During this hold, an electrical fire began in the cabin and spread quickly in the high pressure, 100% oxygen atmosphere. Pressure rose high enough from the fire that the cabin inner wall burst, allowing the fire to erupt onto the pad area and frustrating attempts to rescue the crew. The astronauts were asphyxiated before the hatch could be opened.<ref name="sea5">{{cite book |first=Robert C. Jr. |last=Seamans |publisher=NASA History Office |title=Report of Apollo 204 Review Board |chapter=Findings, Determinations And Recommendations |url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/Apollo204/find.html |date=April 5, 1967 |access-date=October 7, 2007 |archive-date=November 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105102355/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/Apollo204/find.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Irwin i Bull testują kombinezony kosmiczne S68-15931.jpg|thumb|Block II spacesuit in January 1968, before (left) and after changes recommended after the Apollo{{nbsp}}1 fire]]
NASA immediately convened an accident review board, overseen by both houses of Congress. While the determination of responsibility for the accident was complex, the review board concluded that "deficiencies existed in command module design, workmanship and quality control".<ref name="sea5" /> At the insistence of NASA Administrator Webb, North American removed [[Harrison Storms]] as command module program manager.<ref>[[#Gray|Gray 1994]]</ref> Webb also reassigned Apollo Spacecraft Program Office (ASPO) Manager [[Joseph Francis Shea]], replacing him with [[George Low]].<ref name="KeyPersonnelChange">[[#Ertel et al.|Ertel et al. 1978]], p. 119</ref>

To remedy the causes of the fire, changes were made in the Block II spacecraft and operational procedures, the most important of which were use of a nitrogen/oxygen mixture instead of pure oxygen before and during launch, and removal of flammable cabin and space suit materials.<ref name="chariot">{{harvnb|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|loc=[http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/ch9-4.html "The Slow Recovery"]}}</ref> The Block II design already called for replacement of the Block I [[plug door|plug-type]] hatch cover with a quick-release, outward opening door.<ref name="chariot"/> NASA discontinued the crewed Block I program, using the Block{{nbsp}}I spacecraft only for uncrewed Saturn{{nbsp}}V flights. Crew members would also exclusively wear modified, fire-resistant A7L Block II space suits, and would be designated by the Block II titles, regardless of whether a LM was present on the flight or not.<ref name="EMU_development"/>