on friday, january 27, 1967, three astronauts -- virgil grissom, edward hice -- entered the craft designatedo conduct a preflight test. that test conductors were dubbed ready to pick up the count, and ground instruments showed an unexplained rise in the oxygen flow into the spacecraft. about six seconds later, the frantic voice of ed white came over the intercom. a fire in the cockpit. >> they were inside a spacecraft in pure oxygen, that's a recipe for disaster. all they needed was a spark, and unfortunately, they got one. >> from a piece of exposed, uninsulated wiring. why couldn't they get out? >> the hatch was on the inside pressing against the hull. so to remove the hull, you had to turn it in. when the fire started, you have 50,000 pounds pressure holding that door in place. >> all three men were dead. >> we lived near the wife of one of the crewmember, pat white. >> bill anders had the unenviable task of breaking the news to the wife of edward white. >> and that was a pretty tough deal. when i stopped in front of the house, she saw me coming, and even though she had not heard, i could