Mark Hess
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                       May 31, 1990
(Phone:  202/453-4164)

Cam Martin
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
(Phone:  804/864-6123)


RELEASE:  90-76

APOLLO 204 CAPSULE TO REMAIN AT THE LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER


     NASA has decided to keep the Apollo 204 capsule at the 
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., for an indefinite period 
of time.  The capsule has been stored at Langley since 1967.


     Astronauts Virgil I. (Gus) Grissom, Roger B. Chaffee and 
Edward H. White II perished in the Apollo 204 spacecraft fire on 
Jan. 27, 1967.  Their deaths occurred on Launch Complex 34, Cape 
Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., during prelaunch tests for the 
first manned Apollo mission.



_____________________

EARLIER PRESS RELEASE

Mark Hess
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
(Phone:  202/453-4164)                                May 1, 1990

Dick Young
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
(Phone:  407/867-2468)

Cam Martin
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
(Phone:  804/864-6121)

RELEASE:  90-60

APOLLO 204 SPACECRAFT TO BE STORED AT CAPE CANAVERAL AF STATION


     The Apollo 204 spacecraft, its heat shield, associated 
hardware and investigative data will be moved from the Langley 
Research Center, Hampton, Va., about May 20 and placed in 
permanent storage with the Challenger debris in an abandoned 
missile silo at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.  


     Astronauts Virgil I. (Gus) Grissom, Roger B. Chaffee and 
Edward H. White II, perished in the Apollo 204 spacecraft fire on 
Jan. 27, 1967.  Their deaths occurred on Launch Complex 34 at 
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) during prelaunch tests 
for the first manned Apollo mission.  


     Apollo 204 hardware has been in storage at Langley Research 
Center since 1967, as directed by the Apollo 204 Review Board.  
Until about 10 years ago the container was kept in a low pressure 
nitrogen atmosphere to minimize corrosion.  The container has 
been deteriorating and several small leaks have developed.  
Routine repairs were made to the container, but due to its age it 
cannot be effectively maintained on a continuing basis.


     To recover storage area and to gain relief from the 
open-ended maintenance required on the storage containers, NASA 
decided to place the Apollo 204 hardware in permanent storage in 
the missile silo.  The command module, heat shield, booster 
protective cover and 81 cartons, containing hardware and 
investigation data, take up about 3,300 cubic feet of storage.