Universe Today - 13 Things That Saved Apollo 13

[Hans Tucker]

Anyone else been reading the "13 Things That Saved Apollo 13" on Universe Today...Part 7 with the image of the fire gutted Apollo 1 capsule..that image still sends chills up my spine. It only took 15 seconds to engulf the capsule and kill Grissom, Chaffee and White.

If you haven't read it yet..do so..because it is a good 13 part series by Nancy Atkinson

[Nesti]

I have a theory about the Apollo 1 fire.

Firstly, 'Rate Needles' on the Apollo Command Module's 'Attitude Indicators (http://nassp.sourceforge.net/wiki/CSM_FDAI)' were so sensitive that they could detect the wind acting on the Saturn V's hull, even though the Hold Down clamps at the base of the first stage are down and locked. So sensitive in fact that the Astronauts could guess what the wind gusts were and they weren't far off.

Anyway, if you go through some of the [Apollo 204 (http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_01a_Summary.htm)] mission historical doc (they are long but a good read), there was excess rate needle movement at the time of the accident...so much movement that it was similar to the amount detected when a human was moving around in the capsule.

They didn't hide the Rate Needle movement in the investigation, in fact the pointed it out, along with the data from the bio-med units indicating movement, but spoke no further on the subject. Kind of like laying a smoking gun on the table in front of a jury, but without verbal or written reference to it being a possible contributing piece of information.

"During the period beginning about 30 seconds before the report, there were indications of crew movement. These indications were provided by the data from the biomedical sensors, the command pilot’s live microphone, the guidance and navigation system, and the environmental control system. There was no evidence as to what this movement was or that it was related to the fire."

At the time they had been in the CM for hours, trying in vain to get the communications fixed as there was interference in the comms.

My suggestion: Roger Chaffee was the smallest of the three, he was on the far right and the most junior. I believe Grissom's impatience got the better of him and he asked Chaffee to get out of his seat, (moving around in the foot wells) literally pulling wiring lumes as Grissom and White conducted comms checks with the Space Vehicle Test Conductor. Basically wiggling wires to see it could fix the problem.

I think Chaffee just pulled the wrong wire and it arced. Once the spark jumped to the Velcro, it was all over.

Anyway, that's my take on it.