By Brenton Jacobsen & Dennis Kocher

 The Apollo Missions were originally planned to orbit the moon, since the Gemini program had just recently been completed.  But with the enthusiasm of President Kennedy, they shifted to goal of landing on the moon.  Many people believe that the Apollo missions are one of “Mankind's greatest technological achievements.”  But with advancements there are tragedies. The Apollo Program

The Crew

Virgil I. Grissom or Gus Grissom was born on April 3, He graduated from Mitchell high school and received a bachelors of science degree from Purdue university. Grissom was an air force lieutenant colonel and he received his wings in March of He was selected by NASA in April 1959 for the Mercury missions. He died at Kennedy Space Center in an Apollo take off that went up in flames on January 27, 1967.

Roger Chaffee was born on Feb. 15, 1935 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He graduated Central High School and received a bachelor in aeronautics engineering. He was one of the 3 rd groups selected by NASA. He was tasked with flight control communications. He died on January 27, 1967.

Edward White was born on November 14, His hometown was San Antonio, Texas. He got a Bachelors Degree of Science at the U.S. Military Academy in Then in 1959 he got a Masters Degree of Science in Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Michigan. He was married and had two children. He was also the pilot of the Gemini 4 mission in He died on January 27, 1967 when an Apollo 1 launch pad test flight went up in flames.

Mission:Apollo 204 was scheduled to be the first manned mission in the Apollo Program. It would have been launched on February 21,  In the spring of 1967, NASA's announced the mission originally scheduled for Grissom, White and Chaffee would be known as Apollo 1.

 The Apollo 1 mission was not successful because of the fire in the Apollo capsule during a preflight test at Cape Canaveral.  They were training for the first crewed Apollo flight, an Earth orbiting mission scheduled to be launched on 21 February.  They were taking part in a "plugs-out" test, where capsule was attached to the rocket on the launch pad just as it would be for the actual launch, but the rocket was not fueled. Tragedy Strikes

 First Saturn V launch, scheduled for November 1967, would be known as Apollo 4.  The eventual launch of AS-204 became known as the Apollo 5 mission  No missions or flights were ever designated Apollo 2 and 3 because of the tragedy of Apollo 1.

 The Tragedy of Apollo 1. Discovery Education Discovery Education. 14 January 2009  /AS01/a01sum.htm  /AS01/AS01_CM.jpg  /AS01/AS01_CM_fire2.jpg  /AS01/AS01_CM_fire.jpg