Page 7 - Apollo 1 News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Astronaut, not a cosmonaut, would be the first to fly around the moon. >> it was one of the big gambles that nasa at the direction of the president took in order to establish that america was better than the soviet union. >> a big gamble indeed. and for all, it was less than two years before that apollo 1 demonstrated just how complex every mission was. nobody knew that better than frank hormen, the point man in the apollo investigation. nasa tapped him to man the latest mission. >> i was called back, will you volunteer to take apollo 8 to the moon? i said, yes, we would be happy to. we found ...

Why couldn't they get out? >> the hatch was on the inside pressing against the hull. so to remove the hull, you had to turn it in. when the fire started, you have 50,000 pounds pressure holding that door in place. >> all three men were dead. >> we lived near the wife of one of the crewmember, pat white. >> bill anders had the unenviable task of breaking the news to the wife of edward white. >> and that was a pretty tough deal. when i stopped in front of the house, she saw me coming, and even though she had not heard, i could just tell by the look on her face that she knew something was wrong. ...

Astronaut, not a cosmonaut, would be the first to fly around the moon. >> it was one of the big gambles that nasa at the direction of the president took in order to establish that america was better than the soviet union. >> a big gamble indeed. and for all, it was less than two years before that apollo 1 demonstrated just how complex every mission was. nobody knew that better than frank hormen, the point man in the apollo investigation. nasa tapped him to man the latest mission. >> i was called back, will you volunteer to take apollo 8 to the moon? i said, yes, we would be happy to. we found ...

>> nasa marked three of the worst tragedies today. each occurring in the same winter week. in 1967, fire on the launch pad killed three astronauts on board apollo 1. including gus grisham, member of the original mercury program. in 1986, the shuttle acc challenger exploded killing all seven on board, including the first teacher in space. the tragedy witnessed by school children shook the nation. >> i know it's hard to understand that sometimes painful things like this happen. it's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. it's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizon...

Killed when the shuttle columbia burned up upon reentry. then president bush remembered the heroes who reached for the stars but never came home. >> our journey into space will go on. in the skies today we saw destruction and tragedy. it is farther than we can see. there is comfort and hope. martha: steve harrigan is live at the kennedy space center in cape canaveral, florida. morning, steve. >> reporter: martha, we're just a few minutes away here from the ceremonies to mark the day of remembrance for men and women who have given their lives in service of space exploration, beginning in 1967 w...