This mission flew in March 1969 as Apollo 9. McDivitt – The commander of Gemini 4 was selected in late 1966 to command the first Earth orbital flight test of the Apollo Lunar Module with the CSM. White was killed with Grissom in the fire. White - A second-seat veteran of Gemini 4 who made the United States' first walk in space, was selected as Senior Pilot (second seat) on Apollo 1. – America's first man in space on Freedom 7 was originally selected to command Gemini 3, but was medically grounded for the duration of Gemini due to Ménière's disease and assisted Slayton in Flight Operations.Īfter corrective surgery, Shepard was restored to flight status and commanded Apollo 14, the third successful Moon landing mission. Twenty-one months after the Apollo 1 fire, he commanded the first CSM test flight, Apollo 7. – Pilot of Sigma 7 and commander of Gemini 6A, was selected to command a second CSM test flight which was canceled in late 1966, at which time he was reassigned as Grissom's backup. According to Slayton, Grissom would have been his choice to be the first to walk on the Moon.
This mission ended in tragedy almost a month before its scheduled launch,1 when a cabin fire on the launch pad killed Grissom and his entire crew on January 27, 1967. Virgil "Gus" Grissom – Pilot of Liberty Bell 7 and commander of the first manned Gemini 3, was selected in 1966 to command the first manned mission, Apollo 1, a low Earth orbit test of the Apollo Command/Service Module.