On the 27th of January however, the only plan was to simulated watch.
The three astronauts, Virgil Grissom known as Gus, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee
were all strapped into their seats and hooked up to the capsule's systems.
Straight away there were problems.
As the air in the capsule was being replaced by pure oxygen,
the crew members began running through their checklist of space activities while
a communication problem was attended to.
At just after half past six,
one of the crew was heard saying, we've got a fire in the cockpit.
A cry of pain was heard shortly after, before transmission cut out.
Ed White was seen on the television monitor trying to open the hatch.
It is believed that the fire was due to a spark somewhere in the capsule some 50
kilometers of wiring.
With pure oxygen in the cabin, it quickly raged out of control.
Under the hatch that could only be opened from the outside.
And the three men didn't stand a chance.
The command pilot, Gus Grissom Bruce had had a close shave before.
He was chosen as one of the seven Project Mercury astronauts in 1959 after
extensive testing.
Promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel while involved in the space program.
As the pilot of the Mercury-Redstone 4, or Liberty Bell 7, he nearly drowned during
the splashdown when the explosive bolts blew off the hatch prematurely.
The spacecraft sank, but Bruce was saved by helicopter,
insisting he had done nothing And to detonate the explosives.
He was believed by NASA officials and having cleared his name was soon selected
to be the command pilot for the Project Gemini mission in 1964.
Edward H. White II was the senior pilot onboard
the Apollo I.
He had an impressive record, even amongst astronauts he was considered a high-flyer
by NASA and was selected as pilot of the second group of astronauts in 1962.
Following on from Grissom, he was the pilot of the Gemini 4, and accordingly
on the 3rd of June 1965 he became the first American to make a space walk.
He was also the backup command pilot for Gemini 7 and
because of the usual crew rotation process, he was due to pilot Gemini 10,
which would have made him the first of his crew to fly twice.
Instead he was promoted in 1966 to be the command module pilot for AS204.
The final member of the crew was pilot Roger B.
Chaffee, a rookie.
Chaffee was a left-handed commander in the United States
navy flying the [INAUDIBLE] 3Ds.
He gained official recognition for his contribution
during the [INAUDIBLE] although his exact role was never made clear.
In 1963, he was picked to join the third group of astronauts and had yet
to make a space when he was selected as a linear module pilot for Apollo 1.
Back up crew for maintenance December 1966 with James McDibbit, David Scott and
Rusty Schreiber all later flew on Apollo 9 and the back up crew from December 1966
to January 1967 consisted on Walter Shearer, Don Zeeley and Walter Cunningham.
After the tragic end of AS204, a number of changes were made to the Apollo modules
including a slower change over to 100% oxygen,
a hatch that can be opened from within and a few other.
In seconds and flammable materials being replaced with [INAUDIBLE].
Launch Complex 34 was more or
less dismantled but the reinforced platform still stands today.
On its side are a couple of plaques commemorating the three men who died.
The second one closes with the words, God speed to the crew of Apollo 1.
>> It was all over in one stunned horrifying second.
Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee, the prime crew of Apollo 1,
our first manned Apollo flight At T minus ten minutes in a simulated countdown for
the flight at Cape Kennedy.
It was 6:31 PM Eastern time last night, after delays caused
by minor problems they had reached the climactic moments of the countdown.
Plugs out.
The spacecraft was on its own internal power,
disconnected from Pad 34's electrical supply.
Apollo's instrument valve with hundreds of switches and dials was in front of them.
As the count progressed each crew man flipped switches.
Then they got into a hold and suddenly the moment of death.
An electrical spark apparently shot out and ignited
the 100% oxygen in the cabin that they were breathing as in a real space flight.
Their face plates were down, Apollos hatch sealed.
On closed circuit TV screens 218 feet below in the Black House.
Horrified engineers watched the burst of flames and smoke envelop Grissom, White,
and Chaffee.
They heard their last words of shock and surprise.
It was over in an unbelievable microsecond.
The flames enveloped Apollo 1 burning the couches, charring the space suits.
The crewmen never had a chance.
Scores of pad safety workers rushed up the elevators of the launch tower.
They battled the smoke, fought their way up to the hatch.
One by one, they toppled from the fumes despite their smoke masks.
But it was too late.
It had been too late from the beginning.
Despite all the safety precautions,
the elaborate launch escape system, this was the one none escape situation.
With the launch system inactivated, the spacecraft locked in the gantry tower,
hatches closed, you can't get out in a hurry.
It was six hours before their bodies were removed earlier this morning.
The crushing irony is hard to believe.
16 US manned space flights have ticked off in these last six years.
No pilot has even been scratched in flight.
Three have died in aircraft accidents during Gemini and now Gus Grissom,
the tough, wiry veteran of Mercury, 41 years old and Gemini was gone.
Ed White, 36, our first space walker, who believed so strongly you could
feel it in his words, and Roger Chaffee, at 32, ready for his first flight.
So eager that Gus and Ed kidded him constantly.
All their lives snuffed out in the moment that was never supposed to happen.
As dawn rose this morning over the sands of Canaveral, we have tasted tragedy.
An official space agency board of inquiry has been at it all night.
The scene at the Cape now, from pool correspondent Jim Hartz.