# the naming of Apollo One **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 17, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-naming-of-apollo-one/543580 "2010-06-17T18:08:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-naming-of-apollo-one/543580/1 "2010-06-17T18:08:10Z")
I am a bit confused about the designation of the space flight of Grissom, White, and Chaffee, in early 1967. My understanding is this: The first manned Mercury mission (Alan Shepard’s flight) was Mercury-Redstone 3; numbers 1 and 2 were unmanned. The first manned Gemini mission (Grisson and Young) was Gemini 3; numbers 1 and 2 were unmanned. Similarly, several unmanned Apollo flights were planned, and had already flown in 1966. See, for example, [AS-201](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AS-201) and [AS-202](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AS-202). I understand that the first manned flight was officially called “Apollo 204”, and I can find no indication that the Review Board which investigated the 1967 Apollo 1 fire was named anything other than the “Apollo 204 Accident Review Board”. All the above notwithstanding, it also seems that the crew had permission to refer to the flight as “Apollo 1”, and a flight patch with that name was designed. But I get the impression that this was very unofficial, and that there was never any official recognition of this name until _after_ the January 1967 fire, when NASA _retroactively_ named the flight as “Apollo 1”. My question is this: Did anyone actually call it “Apollo 1” prior to the fire, and if so, why? On the day of the fire, were they actually wearing the “Apollo 1” patch? Why would they have changed the already-traditional numbering which includes the unmanned flights? Why would anyone have insisted on pretending that it was the first Apollo capsule to leave Earth? * * * Here are the thoughts which led me to ask the above: In 1998, HBO produced a miniseries titled “From the Earth to the Moon”, which was widely praised for its historical accuracy. Episode 2 was titled “Apollo One”, and contains two scenes which suggest that “Apollo 1” was indeed an officially recognized name even prior to the fire, and I’m wondering whether they took dramatic license, or whether maybe I’ve misunderstood it all along. The first is at about 05:22 on the DVD, showing events prior to the fire, where the astronauts and controllers were having a great deal of difficulty communicating with each other. Someone (presumably the CapCom) asked the astronauts, “Apollo 1, how do you read?” He repeated this, and then asked a third time, with the exact same words. Towards the end of that episode, at about 55:51, we see Deke Slayton speaking with the wives, and one of them tells him, “I got a call from some woman at NASA, Deke. They say they don’t wanna call it Apollo 1 any more, because it never flew. They’re gonna call it Apollo two-oh-…” And Deke says, “204. That was the internal designation.” I guess what I’m hoping is that perhaps someone can produce a transcript which will show whether or not the CapCom might really have used the words, “Apollo 1, how do you read?” ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-naming-of-apollo-one/543580/2 "2010-06-17T18:13:00Z")
Why the tiny lettering? ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-naming-of-apollo-one/543580/3 "2010-06-17T18:20:49Z")
Because it’s more of a footnote than part of the question. (I was originally going to make it a two-part question, but then I decided that regardless of whether the “Apollo 1” name had been official or informal, either way, “dramatic license” would explain those scenes in the miniseries.) ---
**Author:** ![TerpBE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@TerpBE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TerpBE)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-naming-of-apollo-one/543580/4 "2010-06-17T19:10:14Z")
Here’s the audio from the accident. Warning: may be disturbing: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6A9GgAUlZo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6A9GgAUlZo) This video begins just with Gus replying to CapCom, though so we don’t get to hear whether they referred to them as “Apollo 1” or not. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-naming-of-apollo-one/543580/5 "2010-06-17T20:16:07Z")
> [@](#): > > The mission, originally designated Apollo 204 but commonly referred to as Apollo 1, was officially assigned the name “Apollo 1” in honor of Grissom, White, and Chaffee. [The name was made official at the request of the crew’s widows.](http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_747.html) [Link.](http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo1info.html) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-naming-of-apollo-one/543580/6 "2010-06-17T20:26:21Z")
Load the “crew’s widows” link. Load the full size picture. You can zoom in on Grissom’s suit and set the Apollo 1 mission patch. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-naming-of-apollo-one/543580/7 "2010-06-17T21:11:43Z")
Great links! Thanks! > [@carnivorousplant's first link](#): > > The mission, originally designated Apollo 204 but commonly referred to as Apollo 1, … This makes it a lot clearer. “Apollo 1” was not just a nickname, it was more than an unofficial name — it was how people commonly referred to it. This includes the CapCom who I mentioned in my small font. And it also clarifies what that wife said (also in my small font) because she had been afraid that the name might get reused. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-naming-of-apollo-one/543580/8 "2010-06-17T21:16:19Z")
You are very welcome. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-naming-of-apollo-one/543580/9 "2010-06-19T01:52:15Z")
FWIW, just last week an exhibit about the Apollo I disaster (titled “27 Seconds”) opened at my workplace, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in NYC. If any of you are in the vicinity you should check it out. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-naming-of-apollo-one/543580/10 "2010-06-21T02:50:03Z")
I’m reading the fascinating _Failure Is Not an Option_, by Gene Kranz. (Flight director for Apollo 11 and 13. Played by Ed Wood in _Apollo 13_ and Dan Butler in _From the Earth to the Moon_.) He discusses the mission designation post-fire a bit. Note the bolded sentence: > [@Failure Is Not an Option](#): > > In March 1967, the mission designations were changed. After the Apollo 1 fire, there would be no Apollo 2 or 3. Two unmanned Saturn 1B flight tests–AS201 and 202–were not redesignated with a sequence number. The next mission after those two Saturn IB flights was designated Apollo 4, the first flight of the Saturn V. **For our own internal purposes, mission types were given letter designations.** The controllers preferred this letter sequence since it denoted the broad objectives and was used in lieu of numerical designations. > > [ul][li]First manned Command Service Module (CSM) – C[/li][li]Manned test of CSM and Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) – D[/li][li]High Earth orbit (up to 4,000 miles) and test of the CSM at lower reentry speeds – E[/li][li]Full lunar dress rehearsal, with CSM and LEM – F[/li][li]First lunar landing – G [/li][li]Subsequent lunar missions – H1, H2, and H3[/li][li]Extended lunar surface missions – J1, J2, J3, and so on.[/ul][/li] > The general public, of course, knows the main flight in the lunar sequence by number – G was Apollo 11, H2 the all-too-well-named Apollo 13, and so forth. Ooh **stuyguy** , thanks for the info about the exhibit at the _Intrepid_! I’ll definitely look into that. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-naming-of-apollo-one/543580/11 "2010-06-21T03:57:45Z")
Ed Harris, not Ed Wood. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-naming-of-apollo-one/543580/12 "2010-06-21T07:47:04Z")
When North American Aviation shipped spacecraft CM-012 to Kennedy Space Center it bore a banner proclaiming it as Apollo One. Grissom’s crew had received approval for an Apollo 1 patch in June 1966 but NASA was planning to call the mission “AS-204.” After the fire, the astronauts’ widows asked that Apollo 1 be reserved for the flight their husbands never made. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-naming-of-apollo-one/543580/13 "2010-06-21T08:35:35Z")
[CM-012 Arrival at KSC.](http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4205/images/c210c.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-naming-of-apollo-one/543580/14 "2010-06-21T16:21:02Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Ed Harris, not Ed Wood. Hmmm. Casting Ed Wood would’ve made for a _very_ different movie. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-naming-of-apollo-one/543580/15 "2010-06-21T16:44:47Z")
I would’ve liked to see that movie. (I’m giggling like an idiot. Yes, of course I meant Ed Harris! Hee.)