The fire occurred during a routine pre-launch ground test at Cape Kennedy, killing astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee.

CAUSE -- The blaze was likely ignited by vulnerable wiring inside the command module.

The fire spread quickly due to the high-pressure pure oxygen environment inside the capsule and the presence of combustible nylon materials in the suits🙁

The photo📸 captures the moment on April 17, 1970, when the Apollo 13 crew finally saw the terrifying extent of the damage to their ship. After five days of fighting to survive in deep space, they jettisoned the Service Module and saw that an entire side panel had been blown off by an oxygen tank explosion 💥