Speaking of memory: today is the 21st anniversary of the loss of the space shuttle Challenger and its crew of seven: Gregory Jarvis, Christa McAuliffe, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnick, Dick Scobee and Michael Smith.
In a comment below, Adam Frix posted a link to an interview with a pad technician who was present at the Apollo 1 fire. A couple excerpts:
All professional opinions about the dangers which had been studied, hashed and rehashed, had been ignored.
The same problems came up on the Challenger. They ignored ground safety data, flight equipment test data and violated flight safety rules to make rigid flight schedules set by Congress. The needed changes were ignored, or put off because of a lack of funding. The problem with the solid rocket boosters’ seals were well known for at least 18 months before Challenger, even to many of us outside the program, but they wanted to get one more flight. It would be too expensive to make the changes and hold to the flight schedules.
Both shuttle disasters were the result of the same overall root problems.
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I feel that [the Apollo 1 spacecraft] should be displayed at Kennedy Space Center in a special section apart from the astronaut memorial and not on Pad 34 as a reminder to America that it must never happen again.
The story of Apollo 1 should be told over and over again because its not just about three men who were killed, but it is more about the conditions that created the fire. We must always be reminded that it can happen again. Men and women who go to space deserve the best and nothing must be left to chance.
Experience, they say, is the best teacher. But the cost of tuition is very high.
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No personal attacks on any of the participants here.