Tragedy struck on the launch pad during a preflight test for Apollo 204, scheduled to be the first Apollo manned mission. It would have been launched on February 21, 1967, but Astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee lost their lives when a fire swept through the Command Module (CM).
The astronauts entered the Apollo at 1:00 p.m., Friday, 27 January 1967. Problems immediately arose. The first problem occurred when Gus Grissom entered into the spacecraft and hooked up to his oxygen supply from the spacecraft. He described a strange odor in the spacesuit loop as a "sour smell". The crew stopped to take a sample of the suit loop, and after discussion with Grissom decided to continue the test.
The next problem was a high oxygen flow indication which periodically triggered the master alarm. The men discussed this matter with environmental control system personnel, who believed the high flow resulted from movement of the crew. The matter was not really resolved.
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