Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 2, 1990 TAG: 9005020649
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/12 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short
The remnants of the capsule will be transferred from the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., to the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida about May 20, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said Tuesday.
Astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Edward White died when fire flared through the capsule during a countdown rehearsal for the first manned Apollo mission.
The fire, in a cabin filled with 100 percent oxygen, was triggered by a spark when a broken or bruised wire beneath Grissom's couch contacted metal. The astronauts were trapped by a wall of flame and died within seconds.
Grissom and Chaffee are buried side by side at Arlington National Cemetery, White at West Point, N.Y.
The spacecraft has been kept in a container along with its heat shield, other hardware and investigative data at Langley, as directed by a board that investigated the fire.
"The container has been deteriorating and several small leaks have developed," NASA said. "Routine repairs were made to the container, but due to its age it cannot be effectively maintained on a continuing basis."
The remnants of the Challenger, which exploded after liftoff Jan. 28, 1986, were placed in the missile silo at the Cape Canaveral base after investigators were finished with them.
by CNB