Fifty years ago this month, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made history by becoming the first humans to walk on the moon. It was such a triumph that it’s easy to forget just how difficult and dangerous the Apollo 11 mission really was. For NASA, that reminder came in 1967, when Apollo 1 burned up on the launchpad, killing its three crew members. That problem was fixed, but there was plenty more that could’ve gone wrong. Liz Tung (@lizxtung) of WHYY’s “The Pulse” spoke with space reporter Andrew Chaikin and has the story.
This story was part of a special episode of “The Pulse” called “Destination Moon,” celebrating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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