Fallen Apollo astronauts remembered 40 years later

Saturday, January 27th 2007, 3:32 pm

By: News On 6

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (AP) -- Retired astronauts remembered the Apollo One disaster today in a memorial service at the Kennedy Space Center, and the three astronauts who were killed in that flash fire.

The tragedy was remembered as the incident that paved the way for later astronauts to be able to travel to the moon.

The deaths 40 years ago today of Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee forced NASA to take pause in its space race.

But it did allow the agency to make design and safety changes that were critical to later successes.

An investigation said the fire most likely started in an area near the floor around some wires between the oxygen panel and the environmental control system.

The astronauts died from inhaling toxic gases.