The Apollo program, an ambitious endeavor fueled by President John F. Kennedy’s challenge to land a man on the Moon by the end of the 1960s, stood as a symbol of the United States’ determination during the height of the Cold War. After the successes of Mercury and Gemini, Apollo was to push the limits further, paving the way for lunar exploration. AS-204, later officially named Apollo 1 in honor of its crew, was to be the program’s inaugural crewed mission. The astronauts chosen for this landmark flight—Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee—represented the best of NASA’s burgeoning astronaut corps.