On this date (January 27, 1967), Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chafee became the first astronauts to die inside an American spacecraft. Following an extensive investigation, NASA blamed a faulty electric wire as the cause of the launch pad fire that killed the three astronauts during launch simulation tests of Apollo 1. Astronaut Gus Grissom was a brother of the craft, a Master Mason of Mitchell Lodge No. 228 of Mitchell, Indiana.
