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In Memory of the
Crew of Apollo 1
27 January 1967
High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
"You'll be flying along some nights with a full moon. You're up at 45,000 feet. Up there you can see
it like you can't see it down here. It's just the big, bright, clear moon. You look up
there and just say to yourself: I've got to get up there. I've just got to get one of
those flights."
-Roger Chaffee
"If we die, we want people to accept it. We're in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens
to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of
life."
-Gus Grissom
"I think you have to understand the feeling that a pilot has, that a test pilot has, that I look
forward a great deal to making the first flight. There's a great deal of pride involved in
making a first flight."
-Ed White
"Three valiant young men have given their lives in the nation's service. We mourn this great loss. Our hearts go out to their families" - President Lyndon Johnson, 27 January 1967
