Fifty-eight years ago today, January 27, 1967 (December 17, 1966 lunar calendar), the death of three astronauts aboard the Apollo 1 spacecraft. Three astronauts in training January 27, 1967. Astronauts Wilkill Gleason, Edward White and Roger Chafee died tonight in a fire that engulfed their Apollo 1 spacecraft. They died on the ground during a simulation exercise to conduct the launch, which was scheduled to launch on February 21 and put them in Earth orbit for 14 days. NASA officials say an electrical spark probably ignited the pure oxygen in the cockpit of the Apollo spacecraft. The three astronauts sat side by side on top of a Saturn 1 rocket on Rack 34 at Cape Kennedy as if they were actually flying when the fire broke out at 6:31 p.m. They were stuck behind a closed hatch and unable to use the Apollo safety system because they were blocked by a missile trailer. Emergency personnel tried to reach them, but were blocked by thick smoke billowing from the cabin. The Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration collected all information related to the fire. "The loss of personnel and spacecraft dealt a severe blow to the Apollo moon landing program, which struggled to reach the moon in the late 1960s in the face of budget cuts," officials said.