TheApollo 1 Hills are three hills onMars named to memorialize the crew ofApollo 1. The three hills were some of the first landmarks sighted following the January 7, 2004, landing of theSpirit rover on Mars.
NASA astronautsGus Grissom,Roger Chaffee, andEd White perished in aflash fire which engulfed theircommand module on January 27, 1967, while training for the first of the crewed Apollo missions, initially designated as Apollo Saturn-204 (AS-204).[1][2] Their capsule stood atop theSaturn-1B rocket which was at the time docked to thelaunchpad gantry atCape Canaveral'sLaunch Complex 34, while they performed an in-capsule training for what was to be alow Earth orbit shake-out mission for the United States'Apollo Space Program.[3] The craft was set to launch three weeks later, on February 21, 1967.[1] Following the fire, the mission was renamed Apollo 1 to honor the crew's work.[2][4]
Mission Command Pilot Grissom had flown in bothMercury andGemini programs.[2] Chaffee, at 31, was the youngest member of the astronaut corp ever chosen and was prepping for his first flight.[2] White had been the first American to perform aspacewalk during the Gemini program.[2]
The three vastly separated hills are located in theGusev crater, part of theAeolis quadrangle on Mars.[1] They were photographed fromSpirit's landing site, designated as theColumbia Memorial Station, shortly after the descent and soft landing on the Martian surface of therover. TheColumbia station and the nearbyColumbia Hills are themselves named in honor of the seven crew members of the fatalColumbia spacecraft breakup.[1]
The hills are named in memory of the three Apollo 1 astronauts.[2] Grissom Hill is located 7.5 km (4.7 mi) southwest of theColumbia Memorial Station (at Martian co-ordinates14°34′18″S175°28′43″E / 14.5718°S 175.4785°E /-14.5718; 175.4785); while 11.2 km (7.0 mi) to the northwest lies White Hill; and Chaffee Hill is located 14.3 km (8.9 mi) south-southwest of the station.[1] As of January 2020, however, theInternational Astronomical Union has not officially designated the hills with the names of the astronauts.[citation needed]
"Through recorded history, explorers have had both the honor and responsibility of naming significant landmarks. Gus, Ed, and Roger's contributions, as much as their sacrifice, helped make our giant leap for mankind possible … as America strides towards our next giant leap, NASA, and the Mars Exploration Rover team created a fitting tribute to these brave explorers and their legacy." – written statement by former NASA Administrator,Sean O'Keefe[1]
