Editing Apollo 1 (section)

== Apollo crewed test flight plans ==
[[File:Załogi misji Apollo 1 S66-30238.jpg|thumb|Official portrait of prime and backup crews for AS-204, as of April 1, 1966. The backup crew (standing) of McDivitt (center), Scott (left) and Schweickart were replaced by Schirra, Eisele and Cunningham in December 1966.]]

AS-204 was to be the first crewed test flight of the [[Apollo command and service module]] (CSM) to Earth orbit, launched on a Saturn IB rocket. AS-204 was to test launch operations, ground tracking and control facilities and the performance of the Apollo-Saturn launch assembly and would have lasted up to two weeks, depending on how the [[spacecraft]] performed.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Benson |first1=Charles D. |url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/contents.html |title=Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations |last2=Faherty |first2=William Barnaby |publisher=NASA |year=1978 |series=NASA History Series |lccn=77029118 |id=NASA SP-4204 |ref=moonport |access-date=July 12, 2013}}</ref>

The CSM for this flight, number 012 built by [[North American Aviation]] (NAA), was a [[Apollo command and service module#Development history|Block I]] version designed before the [[lunar orbit rendezvous]] landing strategy was chosen; therefore it lacked the capability of docking with the lunar module. This was incorporated into the Block II CSM design, along with lessons learned in Block I. Block II would be test-flown with the LM when the latter was ready.<ref name="chariots5-1">{{Cite book |last1=Brooks |first=Courtney G. |url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/contents.html |title=Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft |last2=Grimwood |first2=James M. |last3=Swenson |first3=Loyd S. |publisher=NASA |year=1979 |isbn=0-486-46756-2 |chapter=Command Modules and Program Changes |access-date=April 22, 2016 |chapter-url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/ch5-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209003722/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/contents.html |archive-date=February 9, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Director of Flight Crew Operations [[Deke Slayton]] selected the first Apollo crew in January 1966, with Grissom as Command Pilot, White as Senior Pilot, and rookie [[Donn F. Eisele]] as Pilot. But Eisele dislocated his shoulder twice aboard the [[Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker|KC-135]] [[Reduced-gravity aircraft|weightlessness training aircraft]], and had to undergo surgery on January 27. Slayton replaced him with Chaffee,<ref>{{Citation |last=Teitel |first=Amy Shira |title=How Donn Eisele Became "Whatshisname," the Command Module Pilot of Apollo 7 |date=December 4, 2013 |url=http://www.popsci.com/blog-network/vintage-space/how-donn-eisele-became-whatshisname-command-module-pilot-apollo-7 |work=Popular Science |orig-date=2013}}</ref> and NASA announced the crew selection on March 21, 1966. [[James McDivitt]], [[David Scott]] and [[Rusty Schweickart|Russell Schweickart]] were named as the backup crew.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 4, 1966 |title='Open End' Orbit Planned for Apollo |page=20 |work=[[Pittsburgh Press|The Pittsburgh Press]] |agency=United Press International |location=Pittsburgh, PA |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ReojAAAAIBAJ&pg=7152%2C998301 |access-date=November 11, 2010}}</ref>

On September 29, [[Wally Schirra|Walter Schirra]], Eisele, and [[Walter Cunningham]] were named as the prime crew for a second Block I CSM flight, AS-205.<ref name="chariots8-7">{{Cite book |author=Brooks |first1=Courtney G. |title=Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft |last2=Grimwood |first2=James M. |last3=Swenson |first3=Loyd S. |publisher=Courier Corporation |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-486-46756-6 |chapter=Preparations for the First Manned Apollo Mission |access-date=April 22, 2016 |chapter-url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/ch8-7.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080204015550/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/ch8-7.html |archive-date=February 4, 2008}}</ref> NASA planned to follow this with an uncrewed test flight of the LM (AS-206), then the third crewed mission would be a dual flight designated AS-278 (or AS-207/208), in which AS-207 would launch the first crewed Block II CSM, which would then rendezvous and dock with the LM launched uncrewed on AS-208.<ref name="chariots8-5">{{Cite book |author=Brooks |first=Courtney G. |title=Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft |author2=Grimwood |first2=James M. |author3=Swenson |first3=Loyd S. |publisher=NASA |year=1979 |chapter=Plans and Progress in Space Flight |access-date=April 22, 2016 |chapter-url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/ch8-5.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080204015545/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/ch8-5.html |archive-date=February 4, 2008}}</ref>

In March, NASA was studying the possibility of flying the first Apollo mission as a joint [[space rendezvous]] with the final [[Project Gemini]] mission, [[Gemini 12]] in November 1966.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 22, 1966 |title=3 Crewmen Picked For 1st Apollo Flight |page=1 |work=[[The Palm Beach Post]] |volume=58 |issue=32 |agency=[[Associated Press]] |location=West Palm Beach, FL |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-palm-beach-post-3-crewmen-picked-for/139481745/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124211537/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-palm-beach-post-3-crewmen-picked-for/139481745/ |archive-date=January 24, 2024 |url-status=live |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=July 12, 2013 }}</ref> But by May, delays in making Apollo ready for flight just by itself, and the extra time needed to incorporate compatibility with the Gemini, made that impractical.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 5, 1966 |title=Apollo Shot May Come This Year |page=1 |work=The Bonham Daily Favorite |agency=[[United Press International]] |location=Bonham, TX |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WjNbAAAAIBAJ&pg=1914%2C190638 |access-date=July 12, 2013}}</ref> This became moot when slippage in readiness of the AS-204 spacecraft caused the last-quarter 1966 target date to be missed, and the mission was rescheduled for February 21, 1967.<ref name="SP4029">{{Cite book |last=Orloff |first=Richard W. |url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/SP-4029.htm |title=Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference |date=September 2004 |publisher=NASA |isbn=0-16-050631-X |series=NASA History Series |location=Washington, DC|chapter=Apollo 1 – The Fire: January 27, 1967 |lccn=00061677 |id=NASA SP-2000-4029 |access-date=July 12, 2013 |orig-date=2000 |chapter-url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_01a_Summary.htm}}</ref>