RocketSTEM Issue #6 - March 2014 | Page 58

Abandon in place Betty Grissom’s last visit to Apollo 1 memorial happens to us, it will not delay the program. The conquest of Is Gus Grissom’s widow space is worth the risk of life.” herself about to “abandon in In the aftermath of the place” the memorial vigil she accident, there were doubts, has maintained over the last suspicions, recriminations and 48 years since the fiery death bitterness expressed over what suffered by her husband, happened to the three men, Astronaut Commander Virgil but the program moved on with “Gus” Grissom and fellow full support of the families. And astronauts Roger Chaffee and they, in turn, were there for the Ed White back in 1967 at Pad families after the stunning loss 34 Cape Canaveral Air Force of the shuttle Challenger and its Station (CCAFS)? crew in 1986 during launch and They were the first human again in 2003 following the loss martyrs of our pioneering of a second shuttle, Columbia, efforts at manned space flight, which took another 7 lives occurring just as our space when the orbiter succumbed program was progressing to damage sustained during toward larger missions and launch and broke up on remore complex vehicles. The entry. At that time, Betty Grissom flash fire that so quickly took stated, “I also hope that people their lives was a reminder that, of all nations will put aside our despite all precautions taken differences today in a moment to ensure safety, things can go of silence and say something horribly wrong. Their line of work special in their own way for each is one of high risk, which they knew full well yet they chose Silohuette of a bagpiper against the LC-34 concrete of these of these astronauts and their families today.” to “push the envelope” as far launch pedestal. Photo: Julian Leek/JNN At this year’s memorial, it as it was possible for them to was announced in an Air Force do. They constantly reaffirmed their commitment and our nation’s commitment to press release that this, the 48th annual observance of the program, with Grissom himself stating “If we die, the Apollo I accident, would be Mrs. Grissom’s last. we want people to accept it…..we hope if anything Her health has been in decline in recent years and this observance saw her wheeled in by wheelchair, reflecting the toll that accumulating years have finally taken. Indeed, as the sign on Pad 34 (CCAFS) crudely and simply states “ABANDON IN PLACE”...a military directive meaning “leave as is…make no changes” and serves as a troubling metaphor for the disregard which is given to far too many people, places and things of great historical significance in this country. How long is “long enough” to memorialize the sacrifices made by the dead. How long need a building or a battlefield be preserved to honor its role as the site of an historic event. Progress often acts as a two-edged sword, capable of slicing away the staid old practices of the past to find a new path…. a new way of thinking and getting things done better, faster, cheaper. It is a After the Apollo 1 fire, Launch Complex 34 was subsequently used hallmark of this country and a key to its phenomenal only for the launch of Apollo 7 and later dismantled down to the success. In our haste to establish “a new order” and concrete launch pedestal. Photo: Julian Leek/JNN found our new nation, we nearly lost to decay and By Mary Kanian 56 56 www.RocketSTEM.org