Enlarge / The crew of Apollo 1 crosses the gantry to the spacecraft on the day of the fire, Jan. 27, 1967. (credit: NASA) On a gray January afternoon in Houston, Walt Cunningham leaned into his Eames Lounge Chair and clasped his hands behind his head, the better to try and bend his thoughts back across five decades. Source: The hell of Apollo 1: Pure oxygen, a single spark, and death in 17 seconds