All language subtitles for From the Earth to the Moon s01e02 apollo 1.eng

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.

Okay, 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.

Okay, Ed, you're worse than Gus.
How 'bout you, Roger?

Okay, 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 S-band communications.

See if we can clear this up.

Can we get all three of you
in the S-band mode?

We're all now in the S-band.

That's real clean, Gus.

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

Okay. This is the command pilot.

One, two, three, four, five.

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

Senior Pilot,
one more time, please.

Roger. Senior pilot's 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.

Okay, roger.
You're all comin' in about the same.

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

Okay, SDC.

If you run into many more communications
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.
Jesus Christ.

I said, how are we gonna
get to the moon...

if we can't talk
between two or three buildings?

Subtitles downloaded from www.OpenSubtitles.org

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

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

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

Uh, Chuck, I didn't read--

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!

We keeping you from something,
Stormy?

Rick's rehearsal dinner.
I promised Phyllis I wouldn't 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 from the airport.

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

Mission Control just called.
There's some situation with the test.

They wanted you
to come over right away.

What kind of situation?

Chris.
What's goin' on?

We lost the crew.

There was a fire.
The crew is--

They're dead.

Jan.

Would you like a sedative, Betty?

- Something--
- No, thank you.

I've got a lot of important decisions
to make in the next few days.

I don't wanna be
zonked out on pills.

Better go call Gus' 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 havin' so many problems
with the communications system...

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

So up until breakfast this mornin'...

Joe Shea and I were gonna flip a coin
to see who got to ride 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
is going in there...

we'll be able to hear
what you fellas 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...

there really wasn't much point.

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

Joe flew back to Houston
and I went for 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 the 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.

The thing is--

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 three brave Americans.

That's it.

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 always knew this was
a waste of money.

Turns out it's
a dangerous waste of money.

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

No one's been able to do
anything about it. Until now.

- We're going to look into this.
- I talked to Anderson's office.

He wants to wait
until NASA's finished its own--

Its own investigation?
For Christ's sake!

That's the fox guarding the henhouse!
It'll be a complete and utter--

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.

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
be reporting to Dr. Robert Van Dolah...

of the Bureau of Mines
Explosives Research Center.

I want you to head up the panel...

responsible for dismantling
the spacecraft.

Sorry I'm late.

Got a call from Joe Shea.

Stormy, he had a good idea.

If they're gonna use spacecraft 14
as a model for taking apart 12...

before they remove a screw
from 12...

they'll try it out first
on 14.

Fine.

- 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're gonna try
to nail us for this?

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 the handle all the way--

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

As strong as Ed was, the pressure in
the cabin from the fire and the 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 program
had explosive hatches, right?

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

Remember when Gus' 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.

It was because of that they decided not
to use an explosive hatch with Apollo.

Nice irony, huh?

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!

Got a bad fire!

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.

Counterclockwise rotation.
Twenty-two pounds torque.

Release at 22.5.

Confirmed. Panel 209 mount:
upper right.

Threading 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.

There's 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 have to 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.

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

Gentlemen.

This is off the record.

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

We're going to be 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.

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.

Hell, 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!

You say you've got questions
for Joe and me.

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

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

You wanna tell them the real reason
for the wiring problems?

How NASA keeps changing
mission requirements...

yet you push us to meet
these arbitrary deadlines.

We never made changes
regarding Velcro.

What?

There was not supposed to be more than
500 square inches of it 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, huh?

How about the tinted windows,
maybe some power steering?

No, no problem.

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

Check the fine print.
There's no warranty on this vehicle.

As 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
of it inside. How did this happen?

Talk to them. They're the ones
who put it there.

When you get up in zero "G,"
crap starts floating around.

But put a little on your pen
and on the bulkhead and, presto.

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.

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
wouldn't have been 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
mission requirements.

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

And to do so
without exploding!

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 conducting it
at sea level...

where the atmospheric pressure
is already 14.8.

That means that
in order to simulate...

the positive pressure of space flight,
you had to add some p.s.i.

You guys tanked up that spacecraft...

with almost 17 pounds per square inch
of pure oxygen.

At 17 p.s.i. pure oxygen,
Velcro explodes.

The fact remains,
we conducted...

over 15,000 hours
of manned tests...

with pressurized oxygen environments
without anything going wrong ever!

Well, this time
something did go wrong.

You told us there wouldn't be
any ignition sources!

And we begged you not to test
in high pressure!

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 the severity of the fire
damage in this part of the spacecraft...

we'll never know for certain
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--

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, 1967,
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.

They're nailing us. They're saying
it was all our fault.

There's a couple of references
to the fact that maybe...

testing in highly pressurized
pure oxygen might be a bit dangerous...

but other than that,
we get our butt kicked.

- We gotta let 'em know--
- No, 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.

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

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

This way, we take a few hits...

but the program 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.

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

unscathed.

I'm okay. I'm fine.

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

Yeah? Well.

I'm just a little overtired.

Hey, I know.
Hell, we're all feelin' the pressure.

Did you 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, uh--

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

I don't know.

A lot of people
heard you say that...

you wished you'd been
in the spacecraft with the guys.

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

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.

I'll tell you what I think
you should do.

Take a break.

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

Come on, Joe.

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

You see that desk there?

Then maybe--

I just think maybe
you oughta just talk to somebody.

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.
A couple of psychiatrists.

Why don't you bring on
a whole platoon of psychiatrists?

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

I'm gonna come right to the point.

We got letters
from the two psychiatrists.

It seems--

It seems like you passed
with flyin' colors.

One of those psychiatrists complained
that seein' you was a waste of time.

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.

NASA is about more...

than just goin' to the moon.

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

I want you to be
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 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.

- You talk to Joe?
- Yeah.

- Did he bite?
- Mm-hmm.

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 have torn him to shreds.
- I don't know.

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

I'll see you in the mornin'.

Going back to your statement,
Dr. Mueller...

I think I understood you to say
there were nearly 500 inspectors...

in the Apollo program
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 27.

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

The contractor is responsible
in some measure.

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 they had
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.

It seems that...

my colleagues have asked
all the questions I was going to ask.

Except one.

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 program...

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 rumor unfounded?

That's something
we gotta take a look at.

Let us look it up, sir.

Is there somethin' somebody
forgot 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 gonna be damaging to us!

"I heard a rumor." Rumor, my foot.
Probably got a copy in his hand.

The only 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 launchpad.

We still 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.

It's understandable. Clinton Anderson
has to worry about getting reelected...

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
right after lunch.

And then there's some members
of the review board.

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

That's good.
Everybody loves an astronaut.

Come on.
Are you kidding me?

You really think Frank Borman
is gonna paint a rosy picture?

It could have been him
in that spacecraft and he knows it.

You're right.

Where you goin'?

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.

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?

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?

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?

Sometimes there are...

romantic, silk-scarfed 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?

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 and were on their way.

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 just have
a couple of quick questions.

Will you yield
for a minute or two?

- Actually, Mr. Chairman, I--
- Thanks.

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 S.O.B....

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, honor, country...

weren't just words to him,
they were him.

He was one of my closest friends.

Roger Chaffee I--

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.

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 escorted through
there ever talked to these guys.

But Roger made them feel like
the most important part of the program.

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.

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.

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 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' 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.

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.

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.

Now 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?

I think you should
stop this witch hunt...

and let us go to the moon.

Please.

Back to you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I have nothing further.

Thank you, Colonel.

Those are beautiful.

Well, thank you, dear.

Who called?

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

I think this is it.

I wanted to see it through
to the landing.

Oh, damn it.

- 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?
- Yeah, I think I've heard that.

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

Join a company in Boston.
How about you?

They moved me over to the brake yard.
I'm still a V.P., 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,
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 them 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.

I could have been
in the cockpit that day.

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' 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.

Really meant a lot
your coming by.

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' idea.

Take care.

- Good luck.
- You too.

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.

Oh, 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.
- It's not ticking, is it?

Probably designs
for the power steering.

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.

"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
anymore 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 happened.

This is the reason
we wanted to see you.

Open it.

It's an astronaut pin.

The guys knew you would never get into
space because 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.

Best watched using Open Subtitles MKV Player

Repair and Synchronization by
Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0