--- ---  # The Apollo 1 Launchpad Fire: Remembering Grissom, White and Chaffee by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Jan 26, 2014 8:45 PM UTC  Apollo 1 astronauts Roger Chaffee, Ed White and Gus Grissom, 1967. Apollo 1 astronauts Roger Chaffee, Ed White and Gus Grissom, 1967.Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Jan 26, 2014 8:45 PM UTC Men and women have been rocketing into space from the Earth’s surface for the past half-century — long enough that much of the general public now views space missions as relatively safe, rote endeavors. Sure, inconceivably complex and technically nuanced projects like setting an [SUV-sized state-of-the art roving laboratory](http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/) on the surface of Mars — _without breaking it_ — can still grab the world’s attention. For countless people, however, when it comes to manned missions like the discontinued Space Shuttle program or flights to and from the International Space Station, the thrill is long gone. But the business of space exploration is not, and has never been, safe. Explosions, fires, parachute failures and other disasters have left scores of astronauts, cosmonauts, test pilots and crew workers dead and wounded through the years. Some (_Challenger_ and _Columbia_, for example) are spectacular, terrifying catastrophes. Others are smaller, quieter calamities — but for anyone involved who survives, injured or not, the experiences are life-changing. Here, LIFE.com recalls one of the worst disasters in NASA’s history — and its first public tragedy — when astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee died in a fire inside their command module on a Cape Canaveral launchpad on Jan. 27, 1967\. As TIME’s Jeffrey Kluger (the author of [_Apollo 13_](http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-13-Jeffrey-Kluger/dp/0618619585)) once wrote, when [commemorating the three astronauts](http://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1664897%5F1664899%5F1666078,00.html): --- > “” --- The program, of course, survived, and less than three years after the 1967 launchpad fire, [Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins](http://life.time.com/history/apollo-11-photos-of-armstrong-aldrin-collins-and-their-families-1969/#1) flew Apollo 11 to the moon and back — leaving human footprints on the lunar surface — in what some consider the signature triumph of the 20th century. --- Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at [@LizabethRonk](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk).  American astronauts Ed White, Roger Chaffee and Gus Grissom in the Apollo Mission Simulator, a replica of the capsule in which they died. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Readying for Apollo I tests, Cape Canaveral, Fla., 1966. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Apollo 1 astronauts (l-r) Roger Chaffee, Ed White and Gus Grissom, Fla. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Apollo 1 astronauts (l-r) Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, photographer the week before the fatal fire at Pad 34, from which their mission was to have launched in February 1967. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Apollo 1 astronauts Roger Chaffee, Ed White and Gus Grissom, 1967. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Apollo 1 astronauts (front to back) Roger Chaffee, Ed White and Gus Grissom, Cape Kennedy, Fla. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Roger Chaffee with his wife Martha and their children, Sheryl and Stephen, in their Houston home, 1965. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Astronaut Ed White leaps off a truck before an attentive audience of his fellow astronauts during a training exercise, 1963. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  In a husband-and-wife appearance before the press, Pat and Ed White (far left) and Pat and Jim McDivitt share delight with the news that President Johnson has promoted the astronauts after the flight of Gemini 4 in 1965. Francis Miller—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  NASA astronaut Ed White and his wife Pat at home. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  During a family work-out on the horizontal bar, Bonnie Lynn and Eddie White compete against their father, astronaut Ed White. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Astronaut Edward White and family, Houston. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Astronaut Edward White and family, Houston. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Astronaut Gus Grissom in his space suit. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Gus Grissom often found relief from the pressures of being an astronaut simply by going fishing. He casts for sea bass near Cape Kennedy. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Astronaut Gus Grissom with his sons. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ![Home a hero after his successful 1965 mission in Gemini 3, \[Gus Grissom\] greeted his parents who came from Mitchell, Ind. for the flight.](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f70db44f33990b8/69877b268e0601a57a459d75/140123-apollo-1-grissom-white-chaffee-17.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp) Caption from LIFE. Home a hero after his successful 1965 mission in Gemini 3, \[Gus Grissom\] greeted his parents who came from Mitchell, Ind. for the flight. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gus Grissom at home with his son. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gus Grissom with his wife Betty and their sons Scott and Mark. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesE  Caption from LIFE. In seclusion at a private home high in the Hollywood Hills, the prime crews for the first and second Apollo flights spent two days earlier this winter in an intensive but informal review of flight plans. Grouped around the table are Gus Grissom (far left), Ed White, Roger Chaffee (back showing), Rusty Schweickart (above), Jim McDivitt and Dave Scott (far right). Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  LIFE magazine, February 3, 1967 LIFE Magazine  LIFE magazine, February 3, 1967 LIFE Magazine  LIFE magazine, February 3, 1967 LIFE Magazine  LIFE magazine, February 3, 1967 LIFE Magazine  LIFE Magazine  LIFE Magazine The Apollo 1 Launchpad Fire: Remembering Grissom, White and Chaffee ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3677252/the-apollo-1-launchpad-fire-remembering-grissom-white-and-chaffee/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3677252/the-apollo-1-launchpad-fire-remembering-grissom-white-and-chaffee/"},"headline":"The Apollo 1 Launchpad Fire: Remembering Grissom, White and Chaffee","datePublished":"2014-01-26T20:45:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:06:06.439Z","description":"On the anniversary of one of the worst disasters in NASA's history, LIFE remembers astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, who died in a fire on a Cape Kennedy launchpad on Jan. 27, 1967.","url":"https://time.com/3677252/the-apollo-1-launchpad-fire-remembering-grissom-white-and-chaffee/","keywords":["space race","NASA","photography","LIFE Magazine","Ralph Morse"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68b16937f26890fa/69877b2235ba6f6bfbc06a21/140123-apollo-1-grissom-white-chaffee-05.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben Cosgrove","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68b16937f26890fa/69877b2235ba6f6bfbc06a21/140123-apollo-1-grissom-white-chaffee-05.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Apollo 1 Astronauts","caption":"Apollo 1 astronauts Roger Chaffee, Ed White and Gus Grissom, 1967.","creditText":"Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space-race/","name":"space race"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3677252/the-apollo-1-launchpad-fire-remembering-grissom-white-and-chaffee/","name":"The Apollo 1 Launchpad Fire: Remembering Grissom, White and Chaffee"}}]}] ```