Spacemike - Pad34 Apollo1 Mike O'Hara

Launch Complex 34 - Site of the Apollo 1Tragedy

On October 23, 2007 I was at the Kennedy Space Center for the launch of the Space Shuttle Apollo 1 Crew (AS-204) Discovery. I stayed over the the day after the launch to take the Cape Canaveral: Then and Now tour which included time to walk around Pad 34. The launch complex is the site of the Apollo 1 fire 40 years earlier on January 27, 1967 during a "plugs-out" test. The fire killed astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. The tragedy brought a temporary halt to the program while the accident was investigated and the results drove a redesign in the Command Module. It was a moving experience to stand at the place where the Saturn 1B stood and look up from underneath at where three American heroes made the ultimate sacrifice to advance America's space program and help us chart our course to the Moon. Gus Grisson was the second American in space, Ed White the first American to walk in space and Roger Chaffee was a rookie astronaut about to make his first flight into space. Below are a few of the pictures I took at the complex that day. In the picture above the actual concrete pad is obscured by the astronauts and the gantry; the blast deflectors are visible just to the left of Gus Grissom's shoulder (right shoulder near the American flag).

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	The plaque affixed to the concrete infrastructure as a memorial to the three astronauts. The plaque reads: "They gave their lives in service to their country in the ongoing exploration of humankind's final frontier. Remember them not for how they died but for those ideals for which they lived"
	Standing directly underneath the concrete pad looking up at where the Saturn 1-B stood. Prior to modifications to support the Saturn 1-B, this site supported several unmanned test Saturn launches in the early sixties.
	The words "Abandon in Place" are stenciled on the right front leg of the pad to signify that it will stand forever as a memorial to the three astronauts and as a reminder of their sacrifice.
	A view of the "pad" from the right front.
	Standing directly in front of the pad and a piece of history where both the excitement and the perils of space exploration could be felt.
	The blast deflectors. The original paint has long since faded. The deflectors stand in the same spot where they did 40 years ago. The only manned launch to be held at this site was that of Apollo 7. The first manned launch of the Command and Service Module combination and America's first launch of three astronauts in a single vehicle.

Next: Launch Complex 5 - Home of Alan Shepard's Historic First Flight

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