Word: apollos
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...will have spent an impressive 1,200 hours in preparing for their mission. They have had an unexpectedly long time to practice; this week's flight, scheduled for February 1967, was postponed after Astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee died in a spacecraft fire during an Apollo ground test at Cape Kennedy...
...tragedy jolted NASA out of the complacency that had built up during the highly successful Mercury and Gemini programs, in which a total of 16 manned craft were sent into space, maneuvered and recovered without serious mishap. In a frenzy of self-doubt, NASA virtually tore up the Apollo program, shifted personnel, and clamped down hard on the procedures and workmanship of North American's Space Division, prime contractors for the Apollo spacecraft...
...cost of $75 million, Apollo itself was redesigned, with thousands of changes in materials, wiring and equipment. In place of the old inward-swinging, three-part hatch that took 90 sec. to open, Apollo 7 has a single outward-swinging hatch that can be opened in 10 sec. To snuff out any fire that might start, there is now an emergency venting system that can reduce cabin pressure in seconds. And while the spacecraft is on the pad, a mixture of 60% oxygen and 40% nitrogen has been substituted for the 100% oxygen of flight, further reducing the danger...
Much of the 15 miles of wiring aboard Apollo has also been rerouted to keep it away from high-temperature devices, which might cause it to overheat. Wiring has also been rerouted around areas where it could be worn by rubbing against instruments and other wires or walked on by workers or the astronauts themselves. In addition, the more than 1,000 lbs. of nonmetallic materials aboard Apollo (grease, wire insulation, spacesuits, etc.) have been checked for flammability and replaced if they failed to meet NASA's new fireproofing standards. Flammable plastic-foam pads and nylon in the astronauts...
...paying a price for safety," says Flight Director Glynn Lunney. "The spacesuits are bulkier, the Fiberglas itches like hell, and the seat belts are difficult to cinch down because they are so stiff. But you are seeing a spacecraft several hundred percent improved." Apollo's new safety devices, and a string of successful shots during the past year, have partially restored NASA's confidence. Four unmanned Apollo spacecraft have now flown without serious mishap, two of them atop the mighty rocket Saturn...