daughter, and supported her application to Purdue University in Indiana; a Mr. Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Ed White died in a flash fire that engulfed their capsule atop a Saturn 1B rocket during a routine training operation on Jan. 27, 1967. February 15, 2015, 12:00 pm Canfield returned to Texas and went into land development with Jerry Hines, buying 500 acres on Lake LBJ in the hill country. When he starts talking to engineers about their systems, he can just tear those damn guys apart. Other astronauts joked that Roger had adopted some of Gus characteristics and had even started to use some of Gus colorful language that had been foreign to a straight-arrow like Roger., As described in a recent AmericaSpace history article, the Apollo 1 crew was killed during a plugs-out test of their spacecraft, atop the Saturn IB booster at Pad 34 on 27 January 1967. The men died in a fire in the command module during a rehearsal on Jan. 27, 1967. To me, it's an emotional thing, said Bill Barry, NASA's chief historian, who was 9 years old when the fire occurred. The crew of Apollo 1, Virgil I (Gus) Grissom, Edward H. White, II, and Roger B. Chaffee, pose for a photo during training in Florida. "It was one of those days when everything we did went right," he said. This is a reminder that you have to be on your toes, and make sure that happens.. Just two space geeks who were going to Pad 34 and doing their own separate ceremonies, said Mark Grissom, 63, who was 13 when his father died. The Grand Rapids native was 31 years old. This is what the children of Apollo 1 remember: Gus Grissom was gone frequently, said his son Mark, but when he did get to come home, they'd catch a game or go hunting. "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White, and Roger B. Chaffee in a flash fire aboard their spacecraft during a ground test on the launch pad. It culminated in his scoring three touchdowns for Purdue University in a 35-13 win over Ohio State University, the No. On October 1, 1978, then United States President Jimmy Carter posthumously awarded him the Congressional Space Medal of Honor; he was one of the first six . Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee pictured on Sept. 10, 1964. I have been there many times, and often have seen boisterous young people become quiet and still in front of the crew compartment, perhaps imagining what it must have been like . One year, they bumped into each other, and came up with the idea of doing something bigger. Paul Scott Anderson Roger Bruce Chaffeewho would have turned 80 today (Sunday, 15 February)has been out of this world for far longer than he was ever in it. Neil Armstrong's wife, who lived next door to the White family, was standing in the driveway. Chaffee had a successful career as a Navy flyer, most notably flying planes that identified Soviet installations in Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis. Astronaut Edward H. White, II rides life raft in the foreground as astronaut Roger B. Chaffee sits in hatch of the boilerplate model of the spacecraft during water egress training in a swimming pool at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston, Texas. Roger B. Chaffee's parents, Donald and Blanche Chaffee, saving newspaper articles about Roger in The Grand Rapids Press. There were combustible materials all around the capsule, as well as vulnerable wiring and plumbing, according to the NASA summary. Roger's mother, Blanche, covers her face while his father, Don, and President Lyndon B. Johnson bow their heads in grief. She never wavered, Krist said. In each case, Krist went after the company responsible for the accident. She was previously married to William Chase Canfield and Roger B. Chaffee. After graduating from Grand Rapids Central High School in 1953, he joined the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps to pursue a career in aeronautical engineering. Although the launch platform is crumbling like a concrete Greek ruin, and stenciled with an eerie Abandon in Place, the site was decorated with three red-white-and-blue floral wreaths brought by the Grissom family. In January of the following year, he entered the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, to work toward a masters degree in reliability engineering, but in June 1963 was invited to begin screening for the third class of astronauts. A review board ultimately identified a number of conditions that led the fire. Born March 28, 1939 Add or change photo on IMDbPro Add to list More at IMDbPro Contact info Agent info Known for The Last Man on the Moon 7.4 Self - Wife of Apollo astronaut 2014 20/20 Wednesday 5.6 And that they were all killed. On Friday, as Ms. Grissom was helped off the old launching pad, professional and amateur stargazers pointed out the International Space Station passing in the sky above, along with Venus and a shooting star. The book chronicles the rivalry between Purdue and Indiana University. Roger Chaffee took his job seriously, his daughter Sheryl said, but liked to have a good time, too. book to class, Texas tornados destroy homes, leave 300,000 without power, Report: Houston ranked No. Story of the Chaffee family giving a statement about the Apollo tragedy during a press conference in Wyoming on the Sunday, Jan. 29, 1967, front page of The Grand Rapids Press. On occasion, Chaffee flew as many as three missions per day, photographing Soviet missiles in transit to Cuba, during the period which brought the world within a hairs breadth of possible nuclear conflict. Sheryl grew up in Houston, Texas during the Apollo space race, moved to Florida in 1979 and began her career at NASA in 1983. . Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Ed White died in a flash fire that engulfed their capsule atop a Saturn 1B rocket during a routine training operation on Jan. 27, 1967. Ive never seen one like him., Yet Grissoms penchant for colorful language appeared to brush off on Chaffee. Then Collins emerged and Chaffee and her brother were sent in to speak with their mother. In the end, he was cleared of responsibility. Chaffee died in the Apollo 1 fire during a test at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Jan. 27, 1967 along with astronauts Virgil (Gus) Grissom and Edward H. White II. The accident also led to a greater, although still imperfect, emphasis on safety. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. 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You have to present your identification at a 7-Eleven to cash a $5 check. EDUCATION: Chaffee graduated from Central High School, Grand Rapids, (Video: MSNBC), ABC's Jules Bergman reports about the deadly fire that claimed the lives of astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger Chaffee on January 27, 1967. This makes it highly likely that, had Roger Chaffee flown Apollo 1 on theplanned date, he would havenot only gained the record for the youngest U.S. spacefarer, but would have held onto it for at leasta half-century.