Did You Know Apollo 1 Never Left Earth? Apollo 1 was planned as NASA’s first crewed mission of the Apollo program, a crucial step toward landing humans on the Moon. On January 27, 1967, astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were conducting a routine ground test inside the Apollo command module at Cape Kennedy. The spacecraft was sealed and filled with a pure oxygen atmosphere, simulating flight conditions. During the test, a small electrical spark ignited flammable materials inside