Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/777963
ByMarciaDunn The Associated Press CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. A relic from America's first spacetragedyisfinallygoing ondisplaythisweek,50years afterafireonthelaunchpad killedthreeastronautsatthe startoftheApollomoonpro- gram. ThescorchedApollo1cap- sule remains locked away in storage. But NASA is offer- ingvisitorsatKennedySpace Center a look at the most symbolicpart:thehatchthat trapped Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee in their burning spacecraft on Jan. 27, 1967. A flash fire erupted inside the capsule during a count- down rehearsal, with the as- tronauts atop the rocket at Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex34.Acrycamefrom inside:"Gotafireinthecock- pit!"Whitestruggledtoopen the hatch before quickly be- ing overcome by smoke and fumes, along with his two crewmates. It was over for them in seconds. Investigators determined the most likely cause to be electrical arcing from defec- tive wiring. Withits moonprogramin jeopardy, NASA completely overhauledtheApollospace- craft. The redesigned cap- sule — with a quick-release hatch — carried 24 men to the moon; 12 of them landed and walked on its surface. For the astronauts' fami- lies,Apollo1isfinallygetting its due. The tragedy has long been overshadowed by the 1986 Challenger and 2003 Columbia accidents. Rem- nantsofthelostshuttleshave been on display at the visitor complex for 1 ½ years. "I'm just so pleased that they finally decided to do something — visibly — to honor the three guys," said Chaffee's widow, Martha. "It's time that they show the threewhodiedinthefireap- preciation for the work that they did." On Friday — the 50th an- niversary — the crew's fam- ilies will help dedicate the new exhibit. For most of them,aprivatetourWednes- day marks the first time they've seen any of the cap- sule. "Thisisway,way,waylong overdue. But we're excited aboutit,"saidScottGrissom, Gus' older son. NASA was embarrassed about the fire "and that's why they pretty much kept it in the closet as long as they have." Like the rest of America, NASA was in shock and sim- plydidnotwanttotalkabout it, said Martha Chaffee. Ex- hibits at Kennedy and else- wherewouldmentionthefire but not highlight it. As the years and decades rolled by, Apollo 1 became a mere footnote in space history. Chaffee's daugh- ter, Sheryl, who retired last month after working at Ken- nedy for 33 years, recalls having to buy a memorial wreath herself to display at the space center on the 20th anniversary. The Astronauts Memorial Foundationtookoverthean- nual observance that hon- ors all astronauts killed in the line of duty — this year's ceremony is Thursday. But it wasn't until NASA unveiled its tribute to the 14 Chal- lenger and Columbia astro- nauts in June 2015 that the agency wondered why it hadn't done anything simi- lar for Apollo 1. "This wasn't our gener- ation ... it wasn't on our ra- dar" like the shuttle acci- dentswere,explainedKelvin Manning, associate director of Kennedy Space Center. Determined to make things right, he and others at Ken- nedy began work on a dis- play. NASA consulted the two surviving widows and six children, explaining it wanted to honor the three men and their sacrifice, and showhowApollo1ultimately paved the way to the moon. Grissom, an original Mer- cury astronaut, was the sec- ondAmericantoflyinspace. White was the nation's first spacewalker.Chaffeewasthe rookie for the flight, a demo in low-Earth orbit. With the families' bless- ing, NASA last year pulled the hatch from storage at Langley Research Center in Virginia. All three layers of the hatch underwent preserva- tion, but were not altered in any way. The white outer hatch is still discolored and pitted, with what looks to be charring in an upper corner. The middle hatch appears darkened. The orange inner hatch is scuffed. The three sections stand side-by-side. In the very next display case is the redesigned hatch. It was just one of numerous changes made to the space- craft, as well as to proce- dures. No more pure oxy- gen, high-pressure cabin at- mosphere on the ground, for example,andeverythingfire- proofed inside. The exhibit is in the same building that holds one of three remain- ing Saturn V rockets built for moon shots. Bonnie Baer, White's daughter, is grateful the en- tire capsule is not on dis- play,assomanyotherfamily members have been urging for decades. "I want them to be remembered for the other things and not necessarily for the accident," she said. As the 30th anniversary of the fire approached, Betty Grissom, Gus' widow, had pushed to have the capsule putonpublicdisplay.There- quest was denied. SPACE NASAdisplaysApollocapsulehatch50yearsa erfatalfire NASA From le , veteran astronaut Virgil Grissom, first American spacewalker Ed White and rookie Roger Chaffee, stand for a photograph in Cape Kennedy, Fla. By James Nord The Associated Press PIERRE, S.D. South Da- kota lawmakers will con- sider restricting which locker rooms transgender students can use, reignit- ing a bitter fight from last year over what school facil- ities are open to transgen- der students. The bill, introduced Wednesday by two Repub- lican lawmakers, would re- quire public school students to use the locker rooms, shower rooms and chang- ing facilities that match their sex at birth. It comes after Republican Gov. Den- nis Daugaard vetoed a broader bill last year that also applied to bathrooms. His chief of staff, Tony Ven- huizen, said Wednesday that Daugaard intends to veto a bill that is "substan- tially the same" as last year's measure. Republican Sen. Lance Russell, the main sponsor of this year's bill, said shower and changing rooms are likely the "most sensitive places in the school." It's im- portant for the Legislature to set legal guidelines that would allow the South Da- kota attorney general to be involved in a potential dis- crimination lawsuit brought against a school district, he said. Libby Skarin, policy di- rector for the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota, said in a statement that lawmakers should reject the bill and "and all attempts to cod- ify discrimination." It's dis- appointing that legislators are targeting transgender kids, who are already very vulnerable, said Terri Bruce, a 53-year-old transgender man who fought against the bill last year. "Transgen- der girls are girls. Transgen- der boys are boys. Period," Bruce said. "Do we really have to do this again?" LGBT RIGHTS South Dakota to consider transgender locker room legislation Werollupoursleevesforourcommunities. Meet us: RabobankAmerica.com/WeAreRabobank Connect with us Allacross California, there are communities grounded in agriculture that share our values. 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