50 years ago, the Apollo program began with a deadly tragedy

On March 21, 1966, NASA announced its crew selection for the AS-204 mission -- the first crewed mission in the program aimed at reaching the moon. Astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White II and Roger B. Chaffee were chosen to carry out a 14-day low orbital test of the Apollo Command/Service Module, with a launch date of Feb. 21, 1967. The men were well suited to the task. Grissom was a decorated fighter pilot and veteran of projects Mercury and Gemini, White was the first American to perform a spacewalk during Project Gemini and Chaffee had served with both men as the capsule communicator for the Gemini 4 mission. As the astronauts spent months training for their mission, the Command/Service Module was tweaked, modified and finally mated to its Saturn launch vehicle at Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 34.