Source: This document taken from the Report of Apollo 204 Review Board
NASA Historical Reference Collection, NASA History Office, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC.

Memorandum

On February 10 I met with the Apollo 204 Review Board at KSC to discuss their progress in the investigation of the Apollo accident.

The Board now has 21 panels established and operating, each with a specific assigned task, each chaired by a Government employee, and each reporting to a specific Board member. A detailed Review Board activity schedule has been established and is reviewed daily to ensure that milestones are being met or that scheduled adjustments are made as early as necessary. This permits close coordination and integration of all the necessary activities, analyses, and studies.

In order to speed up the investigation effort, the Apollo 012 spacecraft is being mapped in detail, using a 3-dimensional coordinate system to which all physical spacecraft elements can be referred. Complete photographic coverage is being maintained, color film being preferred since it permits more ready identification of components and their condition. Each photograph is cross-referenced to the master grid.

The Board has implemented a data control system that permits a visual display, against a time-line background, of each step of the investigation. As spacecraft systems are examined and their utilization in the 204 test is established, these are noted and color coded: at a glance, one can determine whether a system might have caused the accident or has proven to be non-contributory, and also whether a particular analysis is still underway or completed. This method of data control focuses on the critical areas requiring the greatest attention.

I reviewed at some length the work and procedures of the panel that is investigating the origin and propagation of the fire. While their work is far from complete, I am satisfied that the procedures they are following are well worked out. When this work is completed, it will give us as clear a view as can be obtained from the evidence. The panel has begun by examining each possible combustible within the spacecraft, its distribution and characteristics, and its proximity to each possible ignition source. Such combustibles include both solids and liquids. At each step of spacecraft disassembly, panel members are carefully removing both damaged and undamaged materials for microanalysis which, in turn, permits the identification of the material that was burned. This allows a reconstruction of the final location of all combustibles in the spacecraft and will point up irregularities in this distribution if any exist. The physical evidence thus far examined points to the following:

• First, it appears the fire had considerable variation and directionality, since damage in the spacecraft indicates differences of intensity and timing. For example, an aluminum tubing has a hole burned through it indicating a temperature at that point of at least 1,400 degrees F, while its nylon hinge within two inches of the melted spot is relatively undamaged indicating a temperature there of less than 500 degrees F.

• Second, there is evidence that the fire may have had more than one phase, but this is difficult to prove since the last phase would obscure the evidence of the earlier. One hypothesis, supported by the cabin pressure history, assumes a small, low-grade fire whose heat was at first largely absorbed by the spacecraft structure and that was burning at the time of the first crew report; that fire may have continued for as long as 10 seconds. A more intense fire may have then developed, causing the rapid increase in cabin pressure. This fire was probably then extinguished by the depletion of oxygen.

• Other peculiarities require further analysis. These deal with the ruptures in the spacecraft and the role of the fire in burning through into the space between the inner and outer hulls.

At this time, there has been no determination as to the source of the ignition itself.

Updated February 3, 2003
Steve Garber, NASA History Web Curator
For further information E-mail histinfo@hq.nasa.gov