This 1960’s era color movie is presented by NASA and shows the agency’s reaction to the devastating Apollo 1 spacecraft fire. The film highlights all the testing of materials for teh Apollo spacecraft for flammability. If at all possible, the scientists and engineers will replace any flammable substances with non-flammable materials. The movie opens with a test material burning between two pieces of metal. “Test by Fire”. An astronaut is seen getting into capsule 1:00. NASA puts crew safety first. Spacecraft materials on the Apollo mission are thoroughly tested 1:26. Crew Bay Materials animation is shown. Special attention is paid to flammable and inflammable materials 1:34. Words cross the screen in animation showing flammable substances. Category A-Animation shows Major Materials Applications – objects and substances that are unlimited with respect to quantity, proximity to ignition sources or exposure to Oxygen. 2:15. Category B Animation shows words that fall under the heading – Minor Materials Applications that are arranged in unrelated locations and exposed to cabin atmosphere. The words cross the screen in animation 2:30. Category C Animation shows words crossing the screen that are Materials Used in the Environmental Controls System Suit Loop and the interior of the space suit. Other categories include those applications in the high-pressure Oxygen system 2:53. Words continue to cover the screen for the different testing systems, 3:14. The Materials Laboratory of the Crews Systems Divisions Supporting Development Branch 3:45. Man runs test on rates of propagation 4:00. Man conducts tests on materials for flammability 4:25. Man is running tests for the Apollo command module 4:37. Flammability test chamber 4:42. Man cleans material samples 4:50. Matt ignites tissue paper in chamber with electric wire 5:15. Man prepares machine by eliminating leaks 5:23. The test specimen is soaked in oxygen 5:35 the tissue paper burns 5:40. The sample material burns rapidly and does extinguish itself, 5:55. The test fabric does not burn in an oxygen rich atmosphere during testing 6:18. The burning rates of silicone covered oxygen hoses and their replacements are tested 6:35. Biomedical harness testing 6:55. Beta Fiberglass Laminated testing 7:07. Beta Scrim tested 7:19. Teflon is tested 7:23. Nylon is tested 7:30. Blue died beta is tested 7:38. Webbing is tested 7:43. Nomex is tested 8:00. Burning tests continue for different materials 8:15. API – absolute pressure gauge is shown 8:23. Rate of propagation tests are conducted 9:00. PDI webbing is placed in a pressure chamber 9:10. Burning is slower at this rate during this test 9:22. Eliminating ignition sources like short-circuited wiring testing 9:34. Test equipment includes the 3-foot environmental test chamber 10:00. The ignition source is an externals power supply 10:10. Short circuit testing 10:35. Absolute pressure gauge tracks the levels of oxygen and air pressure 10:57. An electric probe is applied to create an ignition 11:09. Nonmetallic materials in spacecraft atmospheres must have a sufficiently high ignition temperatures 11:40. Flash ignition tester 12:25. Man uses spark ignition equipment in three-foot cylinder 12:43. Man raises sample temperature 13:05. Scientist heats chamber at the rate of 25°F per minute 14:28. Simple cotton fiber is used 15:00. Flame impingement tests 15:27. Absolute pressure gauge tracks oxygen levels to determine when test sample will ignite 16:27. Thermocouple readings are recorded and reviewed 17:00. Live fire testing illustrates the resistance of a spacesuit under a live flame 17:40. Scientists test an Integrated Thermal Micrometeoroid Garment (TMG or ITMG). It is the outer layer of a space suit. The TMG has three functions: to insulate the suit occupant and prevent heat loss, to shield the occupant from harmful solar radiation, and to protect the astronaut from micrometeoroids and other orbital debris, which could puncture the suit and depressurize it. These same functions are provided for spacecraft by Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris (MMOD) Protection systems. The selection of fire-resistant materials in the Apollo program is an important one 18:15. Testing continues 19:15. The Manned Spacecraft Center is now known as the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC). It is NASA’s center for human spaceflight where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com