All language subtitles for From the Earth to the Moon - 1x02 - Apollo 1.DVDRip.MEDiEVAL.en

We choose to go to the moon.

We choose to go to the moon.

We choose to go to the moon in this decade
and do the other things,

not because they are easy
but because they are hard.

- Look at that.
- That's beautiful.

It's gotta be one of the most proud moments
of my life. I guarantee you.

In the weeks leading up to
any manned space mission,

the crew and the spacecraft are put
through a series of dress rehearsals,

each one more like
the real thing than the last.

The plugs out test is just one of these.

The crew is wearing full pressure suits,
locked inside the hatch,

confirming that the spacecraft
can operate under its own power,

with all the umbilical plugs
connecting it to the ground removed.

Even for the very first Apollo mission,

the plugs out test was routine
and hardly considered hazardous.

For astronauts Gus Grissom,
Ed White and Roger Chaffee,

it was supposed to be
just another long afternoon,

spent on their backs inside
the Apollo 1 command module.

Another test of the complicated vehicle

that would someday
perhaps take all three of them

on a voyage from the Earth to the moon.

OK, Command Pilot, how do you read?

I read you loud and clear.

Read me?

You're pretty garbled here, Gus.
Senior Pilot, can you hear us?

Yeah, coming through loud and clear.

OK, Ed, you're worse than Gus.
How about you, Roger?

OK, pilot reads you five by five.

Roger, you are just a little bit better.

- Better than Ed or better than Gus?
- Better than both.

That's what I always say.

Gus, what we'd like to do is use
strictly SBAND communication.

See if we can clear this up.

Can we get all three of you
in the SBAND mode?

We're all now in the SBAND.

That's real clean, Gus.

Let's try one more
and maybe we can make the run.

OK. This is the command pilot.

One, two, three, four, five.

OK. You're garbled, but I think
maybe we can get through like this.

Senior Pilot, one more time, please.

Roger. Senior pilot transmitting.

One, two, three, four.

I have senior pilot.

We're not copying anybody five by.

We've tried about every mode.

We never did hear the pilot.

Pilot hasn't talked yet. How's this?

One, two, three, four, five.

OK. You're all coming in about the same.

Bear with us, because sometimes
we don't get your transmissions.

OK, S TC.

If you run into many more communication
problems, we're down. Copy?

- Steve, I need you at the phone.
- I didn't read you, Chuck, at all.

I can't read you, Chuck.
Wanna try the phone?

How are we gonna get to the moon
if we can't talk between three buildings?

Didn't read you. Can you repeat?

I can't hear a thing they're saying.
Christ.

I said, how are we gonna get to the moon if
we can't talk between two or three buildings?

- OK, that's a little better.
- Give us a count on black-three.

We're trying to figure out
why you're coming in on black-two.

You want us to sit by here
till we get this stuff squared away?

Chuck, I didn't...

Test countdown hold continues
at T minus ten.

Apollo 1, how do you read?

Apollo 1, how do you read?

I read you fine.
The problem is you're not reading me.

We're gonna get a new backup system.

I sent a guy out for a couple
of empty soup cans and some string.

A lot of string.

Really getting ridiculous.

Sounds like we got an open mike.

- We better find it.
- Fire!

We got a fire in the cockpit!

- Did he say fire?
- On the monitor!

We got a bad fire!

Hurry up!

We keeping you from something, Stormy?

Rick's rehearsal dinner.
I promised not to be late.

Sure she's never heard that before.

Control is on the line from the Cape.
There's a fire in the spacecraft.

Mr Shea, I was just trying the house.
I thought you were going straight home.

I have a couple of things
I need to look at.

Mission Control called.
There's a situation.

They wanted you to come over right away.

What kind of situation?

Chris. What's going on?

We lost the crew.

There was a fire. The crew is...

They're dead.

Jan?

Hi.

Would you like a sedative, Betty?

- Something...
- No, thank you.

I've important decisions
to make in the next few days.

I don't wanna be zonked out on pills.

Better go call Gus's folks.

Martha, Mike Collins is here.

Just so you know, Joe,
the suits failed but they...

The doctors said they didn't burn to death.

It was the smoke. They were asphyxiated.

Hello? Anybody home?

Mom? Dad?

Could have been any of us in there.

Hell, it almost was me.

I was gonna sit in the spacecraft
for the test. Either me or Joe.

What?

We'd been having so many problems
with the communication system

that we thought it might be a good idea
to have somebody in there listening in.

So up until breakfast this morning,

Joe Shea and I were gonna flip a coin to see
who got to ride in there with the guys.

- Where would we sit?
- Not on my lap, that's for damn sure.

We could fit one person across the cabin
underneath the foot rail.

Whichever one of us goes in there,
we'll be able to hear what you are hearing.

Which won't be much.

- Approximately.
- Approximately?

We can't patch you into
the cabin comm lines.

We'd have to run
a separate line through the hatch.

Then the hatch would have to be open.
That's not gonna work.

We decided that if we weren't gonna
hear exactly what they were hearing

that there really wasn't much point.

Hell, we've been doing that test
since Mercury, Frank.

So Joe flew back to Houston
and I went out to the pad.

Don't really know why
I went out there with the guys.

I usually don't.

Think I just really wanted
to ride in the spacecraft.

At least see what it was like
to ride a test out up there.

But anyway...

I'm kinda concerned about Joe.

I saw him up at the tower
but I don't know how he's handling it.

How are you handling it?

I'm drunk.

You know, the thing is,
Frank, that you and I,

we both know that people die
testing unproved aircraft.

Happens all the time.
It's not nice and we don't like it...

but we all knew it'd happen someday.

No, Deke.

We all knew it'd happen someday in space.

It's one thing to die on a mission.

It's another to die on the pad
during a routine goddamn test.

Senator Mondale's thoughts are with
the families of these brave Americans.

That's it. No. That's it for now.

Seen the Times? Listen to this.

"The astronauts were badly burned.

"Rescue workers needed five hours
to remove their bodies."

I knew this was a waste of money.
Turns out it's a dangerous waste of money.

For six years, they've been
spending money hand over fist.

No one's been able to do anything about it.
Until now. We're looking into it.

I talked to Anderson's office. He wants
to wait until NASA's finished its...

Its own investigation? For Christ's sake!

The fox guarding the henhouse!
It'll be a complete...

...whitewash. They don't like NASA
employees investigating NASA.

As far as I'm concerned,

I didn't come here from Langley to put
a good face on this for my employers.

As a matter of fact,
the way I see it, while we're doing this,

we're not working for NASA.

We're working for Gus and Ed and Roger.

You're each gonna head up a panel or two.

Max, I want you to go over all the data
that came out of the spacecraft.

Printouts, voice transmissions, everything.
Pin down the precise sequence of events.

We're going to have one panel
focusing squarely on the fire.

How it started, how it spread.
They'll report to Dr Robert Van Dolah

of the Bureau of Mines
Explosives Research Center.

Frank, I want you to head up the panel
responsible for dismantling the spacecraft.

Sorry I'm late. I got a call from Joe Shea.

Stormy, he had a good idea.

They're gonna use spacecraft 1 4
as a model for taking apart 12,

before they remove a screw from 12,
they'll try it out first on 1 4.

Fine.

Stormy, we're gonna help them
any way we can.

I know, but we've also gotta get
the block twos ready to fly.

Anything else?

- Do you think they'll try to nail us?
- How can they nail us, Bud? It wasn't our fault.

We were gonna run an emergency egress test
at the end of the plugs out,

see how fast they could get out of there.

How far did Ed manage
to turn the latch handle?

We don't know. Even if he'd managed
to turn it all the way...

He never would have gotten out.
It's an inward opening hatch.

As strong as Ed was,
the pressure from the fire and smoke

would have been too much
for him to pull against.

You know what haunts me?

In a way, if it wasn't for me,
the fire might not have been fatal.

Why is that?

The capsules in the Mercury programme
had explosive hatches, right?

You pull a lever and bam,
you're outta there in a second.

Remember when Gus's capsule sank

and everyone said he must have
blown the hatch by accident?

I was on the review board for that.

I was the one who found out
Gus was telling the truth.

The hatch could blow by itself.

Because of that they decided
not to use an explosive hatch with Apollo.

Nice irony.

If I hadn't proved Gus right...

we might have had an explosive hatch
on this spacecraft,

in which case, Gus and the boys
would still be alive and well.

I'm not a big fan of irony.

Got a bad fire!

Hurry up! Hurry up!

Got a bad fire!

Hurry up! Hurry up!

I'm going now, Mr Shea.
Is there anything I can get you?

You believe in time travel, Kathy?

I mean, if you could go back in time,
what would you do?

I mean, I'd be on that
spacecraft for the test.

That's where I'd be.

Good night, sir.

Next is TPS4CM183.

Item 1018. Panel 209 mount, upper right.

Panel 209 mount, upper right.

Panel 209 mount, upper right.

Counter clockwise rotation,
22 pounds torque.

Counter clockwise rotation,
22 pounds torque.

Release at 22.5.

Confirmed as panel 209 mount, upper right.

Threading's intact. No visible marking.

22.5. Noted.

Hold on. I think you're
gonna want to see this.

It's a socket wrench.

We found it behind the panel door.

Must have been left there
by one of the North American workmen.

No other reasonable explanation for it.

Socket wrench?

Did it have anything to do with the fire?

We haven't finished our
analysis but I'd say no.

That's a long way away
from where we think that fire started.

But it still shouldn't have
been there, should it?

No, sir.

Well, I think we better hear
what North American has to say.

Gentlemen, this is off the record.

I want to thank Stormy
and Joe for coming to talk to us.

We're writing this report
in the next three weeks

and we have some questions for you
that might help us clear some things up.

Stormy, let's start with you.

- I'm sure you've seen this.
- Yes, I've seen that.

Leaving that wrench in those wires
was careless and sloppy.

When we find the person responsible,

we're going to make our displeasure known
in the strongest possible way.

But we all know that that wrench
had absolutely nothing to do with the fire.

Stormy, a number of people have told me
Gus wasn't happy with North American.

When he made suggestions or had complaints,
he didn't think he was being listened to.

We listened at first.

But after a while, we
had to stop listening.

The good old days
of Mercury and Gemini are gone.

On Gemini, if you wanted to make
a change in the spacecraft,

all you had to do was
call up old man McDonnell. Right?

Well, you can't do that on Apollo.
You know that.

The smallest change has huge ramifications.

Mercury missions. You launched,
orbited, came back down.

You could hold your breath
through some of those flights.

We're going to the moon now.

So if the accusation is
we haven't done everything

that you astronauts have asked us to do,
all I can say is guilty as charged.

No one's accusing you of anything.
This isn't a court of law.

- You're damn right. It's an ambush!
- Stormy...

You've got questions for Joe and me.

Why do I think there aren't gonna be
many questions for Joe?

Because if you don't have any,
I've got a couple, Joe.

Wanna tell them the real reason
for the wiring problems?

NASA keeps changing mission requirements

and yet you push us
to meet these arbitrary deadlines.

We never made changes
regarding Velcro, Stormy.

What?

There was not supposed to be
more than 500 square inches in the cabin.

You guys had
over 5,000 square inches in there.

- I wasn't aware that was a problem.
- Of course you were aware!

We talked about it last August.

You guys got any other complaints?

No steering wheel?

How about tinted windows,
maybe some power steering?

No problem.

We have a couple of things
before we can take off.

Check the fine print.
There's no warranty on it.

Soon as we signed the pink slip over,
it was yours.

- Caveat emptor, buddy.
- No, it's the Velcro.

It's flammable and there's too much inside.
How did this happen?

Talk to them. They put it there.

Look, Joe, when you get up in zero G,
crap starts floating around,

but put a little on your pen
and on the bulkhead and presto.

OK, then maybe there's just
a few too many bits of it in there.

So wherever Velcro is...

there should be at least four inches
between it and any ignition source.

- Sure. Yeah.
- All right, other than that...

Not one piece of Velcro
or anything flammable

was within four inches
of any ignition source.

Not that it mattered.
A ten-inch gap wasn't enough.

The fire wasn't caused by Velcro!

It was caused by the use of 100%
pure goddamn oxygen under pressure.

North American was given requirements.

One of the requirements was a spacecraft
designed to operate filled with oxygen

and to do so without exploding!

Joe, I think it's time you and your friends
at NASA took a remedial math course.

In space, the cabin was supposed to contain

five pounds per square inch
of pure oxygen, right?

Fine. So we built it to
those specifications.

But you weren't conducting the test in
space. You were doing it at sea level,

where the atmospheric pressure
is already 1 4.8.

That means that in order to simulate

the positive pressure of space flight,
you had to add some psi.

You guys tanked up that spacecraft

with almost 1 7 pounds per square inch
of pure oxygen.

At 1 7 psi pure oxygen, Velcro explodes.

The fact remains, we conducted
over 15,000 hours of manned tests

with pressurized oxygen environments
with nothing going wrong!

- Something did go wrong.
- You said there'd be no ignition sources!

- We begged you not to test at high pressure!
- All right.

All right.

Sorry.

Normally, Velcro is not
much of a fire risk.

This is Velcro in air at sea level,
under intense direct heat.

It'll burn, it'll melt.
It will not support combustion.

This is Velcro in an atmosphere
of 100% oxygen.

As for the spark that started it.

From our fire propagation test
and analysis of the spacecraft,

we believe the fire started down here.

Because of fire damage
in this part of the spacecraft,

we'll never know how the fire started.

Our best guess is that a wire was resting
against the inside of this panel door here.

After the door opened and shut a few times,

the Teflon insulation
became abraded in two spots.

When the current went through the wire,
there was an arc and...

Well, you've heard the rest.

You're saying the fire
was the result of frayed wiring?

Yes.

Disassembly of the Apollo 1
command module

was completed
at the Kennedy Space Center

on March 27, 1 967, during the first shift.

You keep working these hours,
you're gonna have a heart attack.

- Did you read this thing?
- It's 2,300 pages, Stormy.

They're saying it was all our fault.

There's a couple of references that testing
in highly-pressurized oxygen is dangerous.

Other than that, we get our butt kicked.

- We gotta let 'em know...
- We don't.

- We're not just gonna take this?
- Yes, we are.

We have got files filled with memos
begging them not to test like that.

We are going to forget about those files.

We can't blame NASA, Stormy.

We make NASA look bad,
they could cancel the whole programme.

Mondale's looking
for any excuse to shut it down.

This way, we take a few hits
but the programme rolls on.

- With a new contractor.
- It's too late to get a new contractor.

Kennedy promised the moon
by the end of the decade.

They switch contractors now,
they can forget about that.

And if it looks like
they're gonna miss Kennedy's goal,

public sentiment will evaporate
and Congress will pull the plug.

They can't replace us.

We put our cap in our
hands, beg forgiveness

and we promise it will never happen again.
We do not fight back.

And we forget those files exist.

What files?

He must be loving this.

- Who?
- Joe Shea.

I can't believe how he's been able
to skate through all this unscathed.

That's not what I hear, Stormy.

From what I hear,
Joe has been anything but unscathed.

I'm OK. I'm fine.

It's just that we got
a lot of people worried about you.

Yeah? Well. I'm just a little overtired.
That's all.

I know.
Hell, we're all feeling the pressure.

Hear about Ron Tucker? Got up
in the middle of a review board meeting

and started drawing an organizational
chart of heaven on the blackboard.

At the top goes God, who
we'll call Big Daddy.

Ron's eating soft food in a soft room now
but at least he's alive.

Quality control inspector out at the Cape

that drove his whole family
out in front of a train wasn't so lucky.

You don't think
I'm gonna snap like that, do you?

I don't know, Joe.

A lot of people heard
you say that you wished

you'd been in the spacecraft with the guys.

I'm not saying that I wish I was dead.

No. That's not what I'm saying at all.

It's just...

Forget it. What do they want me to do?

- Who?
- The three wise men.

Webb, Seamans, Mueller.

They think I've gone over the edge.
What would they like me to do?

I don't know what they want you to do.
I'll tell you what I think you should do.

I think you should take a break.

Just leave of absence.
A couple of weeks and get some rest.

No. No.

Come on, Joe.

- You said yourself you were overtired.
- I got a lot of work to do.

You see that desk there?

Well, then maybe... I just think maybe
you oughta just talk to somebody.

You know and... maybe see a psychiatrist.

You really do think I've cracked.

It's just to put everybody's mind at ease.

Fine, I'll see a psychiatrist.
I'll see a couple.

Why don't you bring on a whole platoon?

But I'm not leaving the programme
voluntarily till we get to the moon!

Joe, I'm gonna come right to the point.
We got letters from the two psychiatrists.

It seems like you passed
with flying colours.

One of those psychiatrists complained
that seeing you was a waste of his time.

Joe, I don't want you to think
that this reflects on what I think of you.

I honestly feel
you're the most valuable man in NASA today.

And that's why I'm gonna say
what I'm gonna say.

Joe, NASA is about
more than just going to the moon.

We got the space station to think about
and the manned mission to Mars.

I want you to be a part of all of that.

It's time you left the detail work behind,
got involved in making policy.

I want you to join me here in Washington.

You'll be at the highest level.

You won't have to report
to anyone except maybe me.

What do you say?

What do I say?

How soon you want me?

- How does now sound?
- That sounds great.

- We got kids in school...
- You don't have to decide right now.

Go back to the hotel,
phone your wife, talk about it.

- I'll call you tomorrow. All right?
- Thanks.

Call you tomorrow.

- Hey, Jim. You talk to Joe?
- Yeah.

Did he bite?

And I feel like a complete and utter heel.

It had to be done. We had to get him
outta the way before the hearings.

- They'd tear him to shreds.
- I don't know.

Maybe the hearings aren't gonna be
as horrible as we think.

I'll see you in the morning.

Going back to your statement, Dr Mueller,

I understood you to say
there were nearly 500 inspectors

in the Apollo programme at the Cape.

Yes.

Now, for the life of me,
I cannot understand, with all those people,

how a socket wrench could have gone
undetected in the capsule

from October until January the 27th.

You're saying it was not
because NASA was in a hurry.

- The contractor is responsible in...
- Wasn't that a failure?

Did you ever consider cancellation
of North American's contract?

Wouldn't you say they were negligent?

Sir, I have not found anyone
at North American or NASA

who would not give anything
to prevent what happened.

But there was negligence on the part
of North American, was there not?

I don't see how you can call
what they did negligence

unless you mean that a company is negligent

if 100% of its work is not done
without a mistake.

As someone with extensive experience
in testing experimental aircraft,

I can tell you that that standard
is just not achievable.

So I don't feel that negligence
is the proper word.

Thank you, Senator.

Senator Mondale.

Well, it seems that my colleagues have
asked all the questions I was going to ask.

Except one.

Now, I have been told, and I would like
to have this set straight if I'm wrong,

that there was a report prepared for NASA
by General Phillips in mid or late 1965,

which very strongly criticized
the Apollo programme

for what were regarded as very serious
inadequacies in terms of quality control.

Would you comment on that?

Was there a Phillips report?

Would you comment on that?

I'm not aware of it, sir.

Is it then your testimony that no such
unusual General Phillips report existed?

Is this rumour unfounded?

That's something we gotta take a look at.

Let us look it up, sir.

Did somebody forget to tell me?

- It was a memo. It wasn't a big deal.
- It is now!

It came out of the Tiger Team audit
from North American. It's old news.

It's still gonna be damaging to us!

"I heard a rumour." Rumour, my foot.
Probably got a copy in his hand.

The reason he didn't throw it
in front of me like Perry Mason

is because he knows the fool thing
is classified!

He's gonna kill us.

We're dead before we even got
off the damn launch pad.

We don't know what Anderson's thinking.

He can steer the committee
any way he wants.

Where were you this morning?
He's got us twisting in the wind.

Clinton Anderson has to worry about getting
re-elected just like everybody else.

Who's left to testify?

Lee Atwood and some of the folks
from North American.

They're gonna get torn
to pieces after lunch.

Then some members of the review board.

- Borman?
- Frank's going at the end.

Good. Everybody loves an astronaut.

Come on. Are you kidding me?
You think he'll paint a rosy picture?

- It could have been him in that spacecraft.
- You're right.

Where you going, Jim?

I'm gonna do the only thing
left for me to do. Beg for mercy.

I'm sorry, Mr Webb, but I've got a
job to do and I'm going to do it.

With all due humility, Senator,
what did we do wrong?

- That's what I'm going to find out.
- No. Why are you so down on us?

You and I are both Democrats.

Going to the moon was Kennedy's dream.

It was one of his dreams.
Jack Kennedy had a lot of dreams.

Do you really want to kill Apollo?

No. I'll tell you what I want, Mr Webb.

I want there to be no American children
going hungry in any of our cities.

I want to do something about our boys
dying halfway around the world.

I want to do a lot of things.

And if getting what I want means
we don't go to the moon, then so be it.

Colonel Borman,
would you have entered the spacecraft

on the morning of the accident
if your turn had been called?

Yes, sir.

Would you have had any hesitancy?

No, sir.

Were there defects in workmanship?

There were.

Did these defects go beyond workmanship?

Yes, sir, there were defects in design.

If you had entered the spacecraft
on that morning,

would you have been motivated
by a desire to take risks?

No, sir.

Sometimes there are romantic, silk-scarf
notions attributed to this business

but we're professionals.

We will accept risk, certainly,
but not undue risk.

Let me rephrase the question.

Knowing what you know now,
would you have entered that spacecraft?

No, sir.

How did Commander Grissom and his crew
feel about the readiness of the vehicle?

I talked to Ed White
shortly before the accident.

He thought they were
over most of their problems.

Didn't Commander Grissom once
hang a lemon on the simulator?

You had to know Gus.

Did Commander Grissom
hang a lemon on the simulator?

Yes, sir.

Tell us about him, Colonel.

Sorry. I have a couple of quick questions.
Would you yield for a minute or two?

- Actually, I...
- Thanks.

Colonel Borman, you just said,
"You had to know Gus."

I think that's been missing in here,
this past two days.

I'd like for the record to contain
at least a little bit

about the men who perished in that fire.
Could you do that for us?

Gus Grissom was the first astronaut
to be asked to fly three times.

Mercury, Gemini and Apollo.

He loved being an astronaut.

Except for the publicity and being
on display that comes with the job.

There are no front windows on the house
he built for Betty in Timber Cove

because he didn't want people looking in.

If that gives you the impression
that Gus was a cranky SOB,

well, he was at times.

But I would have trusted him with my life.

Ed White was a big man for an astronaut.

A shade under six feet.
Exceptional athlete.

As you all know,
Ed was the first American to walk in space.

There was a story going around

that when he was on his space walk,
he stayed out after being ordered in

because he was having such a good time.

It's a funny story

but it would have meant
that Ed White disobeyed an order.

Not gonna happen.

Ed was a West Point man...

and duty, honour, country
weren't just words to him, they were him.

He was one of my closest friends.

Roger Chaffee, I didn't know that well.
He was one of the new guys.

Very energetic, very excited.

I heard a story about him though.

He was out on Long Island
visiting the Grumman facility

where they're building the descent stage
for the lunar module

and he saw a group of men
standing in a corner.

He found out these were the fellows
that make the tools that make the machines.

None of the bigwigs being escorted
through there ever talked to these guys

but Roger went over and made them feel like
the most important part of the programme.

Colonel, this isn't a court of law,
so I can ask you something

that's completely hypothetical.

If we could somehow reach
beyond the wall of death

and talk to Grissom, White and Chaffee,

what do you imagine
they would say about the fire?

I was hoping someone would ask that.

I don't know what Roger or Ed would say

but I can let Gus speak for himself.

Back in January he talked
to a group of reporters.

They asked him about the dangers
involved in going to the moon.

...not delay the programme.

The conquest of space is
worth the risk of life.

Our God-given curiosity
will force us to go there ourselves

because, in the final analysis,
only man can fully evaluate the moon

in terms understandable to other men.

Colonel, at the risk of being gruesome,

we've heard about the fire
from everyone who was there,

everyone except the astronauts
themselves, of course.

Can you tell us what they went through?
What it was like for them?

I can only tell you what we know,
or at least what we think we know.

When it happened they were just
waiting for the test to resume.

How are we gonna get to the moon
if we can't talk between three buildings?

I can't hear a thing you're saying.
Jesus Christ.

I said, how are we gonna get to the moon if
we can't talk between two or three buildings?

They wouldn't have seen
the spark that started the fire

because it was behind a panel door
down below Gus's feet.

Because of the oxygen,
the spark was able to jump out

into the nylon netting under the seats.

Gus probably saw it first
because it was closest to him.

Fire!

We got a fire in the cockpit!

The procedure would have had
Gus push down Ed's headrest

so that Ed could start
turning the latch handle.

We got a bad fire!

We're burning up!

By now the temperature
and the pressure were astronomical.

Let's get out!

Now, it just took me a minute or more
to tell you all that.

In actuality, from the
first mention of the fire

to the rupture of the hull,
only 15 seconds went by.

Colonel, what caused the fire?

I'm not talking about wires and oxygen.

It seems that some people think
that NASA pressured North American

to meet unrealistic and arbitrary deadlines

and that, in turn, North American
allowed safety to be compromised.

I won't deny that there's been
pressure to meet deadlines

but safety has never been
intentionally compromised.

Then what caused the fire?

A failure of imagination.

We've always known there was
the possibility of fire in a spacecraft

but the fear was that it
would happen in space

when you're 180 miles from Terra firma
and the nearest fire station.

That was the worry. No one ever imagined
that it would happen on the ground.

If anyone had, the test would have been
classified as hazardous.

But it wasn't. We just didn't think of it.

Now, whose fault is that?

It's North American's fault.

It's NASA's fault.

It's the fault of every person
who ever worked on Apollo.

It's my fault.

I didn't think the test was hazardous.

No one did.

I wish to God we had.

Before we all go home, is there any statement
you personally would like to make?

I think I'm safe in speaking
for all the astronauts when I say that...

we're confident in our management,
we're confident in our training,

in our engineering and in ourselves.

The real question is, are
you confident in us?

What do you think we should do, Colonel?

I think you should stop this witch-hunt
and let us go to the moon.

Please.

Senator Mondale, back to you.

Thank you, Mr Chairman.

I have nothing further.

Thank you, Colonel.

- Those are beautiful.
- Thank you, dear.

- Who called?
- Lee Atwood.

- He wants to see me.
- On a Sunday?

I think this is it.

I wanted to see it through to the landing.

God damn it.

Mr Shea.

- Yeah?
- There's a Mr Storms to see you.

They said I wouldn't have to report to anyone.
Trouble is there's no one to report to me either.

- What do you do?
- I go to the movies, museums.

There's a lot of damn fine museums
in this town.

- Did you know that?
- I think I've heard that.

- What's next?
- I'm getting out.

Join a company in Boston. How about you?

They moved me over to the brake yard.
I'm still a VP but...

I still talk with my old buddies
at the space division now and then.

They say that
things have really improved since the fire.

Everybody's working together
better than ever.

There's a whole new sense of purpose,
a sense of relief.

Relief?

Everyone knew an accident was inevitable.

I know. I talked to some UPI reporters
a couple of weeks before the fire.

I said to 'em I believed some kind
of accident was probably inevitable.

I also said I thought it would be harder
on those of us on the ground.

The astronauts are dead, God rest them,

but we have to live with the knowledge
we could have done something different.

There's nothing you could have done, Joe.

I could have been
in the cockpit that day, Stormy.

Why is it every time I say that
people assume I mean I wish I were dead?

The fire started on the left side
below Gus's feet, right?

If I'd been on the spacecraft that day,

I would have been lying below the footrest
right there where it started.

I figure I had a 50-50 chance of putting
it out before it got out of control.

My years in flight test, I saw a number
of crews slam into the desert floor.

Too many.

I love those guys and each time
that happened I wanted to die.

But I've learned that
you gotta let go of the what ifs.

They're meaningless.

And they'll kill you.

Yeah.

It really meant a lot
your coming by, Stormy.

I know we didn't always see eye to eye.

I got mine up in the den.

Yeah? I'm thinking about the front hall.

You had to know it was Gus's idea.

Take care.

- Good luck.
- You too.

Goodbye, Joe.

OK, then that leaves
only one very important thing,

which is, of course,
who's paying for dinner.

North American, I guess.

- That didn't take long.
- Wait, gentlemen.

Before we go, Roger, Ed and I
have a little presentation

we'd like to make to Joe and Stormy here.

- Yeah?
- It's just a little something from us.

From us to you.
A little something from the guys.

- Plain brown paper. I'm a little nervous.
- Why am I frightened for my life?

- Because you know us.
- Is it ticking?

Probably designs for the power steering,
I'll bet.

- Look at that.
- That's great.

That's very funny, you guys. Thank you.

- We have absolute faith in you.
- Yeah, right.

- Thank you. That's very nice.
- Very touching

"It isn't that we don't trust you, Joe, but
this time we've decided to go over your head."

I got a call from some woman at NASA, Deke.

They don't wanna call it Apollo 1
any more because it never flew.

They're gonna call it Apollo 20...

204. That was the internal designation.

It's like they already want people
to forget it ever even happened.

This is the reason
we wanted to see you, Deke.

Open it.

It's an astronaut pin.

The guys knew you would never get
into space cos of your heart problem

but they wanted you to know
they considered you

as much of an astronaut as any of them.

They were gonna give that to you
when they got back.