"27 Seconds," a new exhibition that tells the story of the 1967 Apollo 1 tragedy when, during routine tests, a fire took the lives of astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, EdWard White and Roger Chaffee, will open at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, located at Pier 86 (46th Street and 12th Avenue) in Manhattan, on Saturday, June 12th. The exhibition will run through November 21, 2010 and is free with the price of admission to the museum. For more information, visit www.intrepidmuseum.org.
"27 Seconds" explores the circumstances and the impact surrounding this first American space program tragedy. Beginning with a timeline of the different phases of America's race to the Moon; Mercury, followed by Gemini and finally Apollo, the exhibition includes a video of President John F. Kennedy's famous race to the moon speech and highlights the special role that the USS Intrepid played while acting as a space capsule recovery ship for the early NASA missions.
Among the treasured objects that will be displayed in the exhibition are Roger Chaffee's flight jumpsuit, a plaque that crew members of the USS Intrepid once presented to Gus Grissom, copies of NASA's investigation report, photographs of the investigation, rare images of the three astronauts and the Western Union telegram that was sent to Chaffee's family informing them of his death. The artifacts on display are from several museums from around the country as well as from the private collection of the Chaffee family.
The name of the exhibition, "27 Seconds," represents the amount of time that passed from when the spark ignited the fire to the final voice transmission from the Apollo 1 crew.
The newly renovated Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum complex includes the 900-foot-long aircraft carrier ‘Intrepid' with seven full decks and four theme halls; the guided missile submarine Growler; and an extensive collection of over 30 aircraft including the A-12 Blackbird, the fastest plane in the world, and the British Airways Concorde, the fastest commercial aircraft in the world. Guests can experience newly opened areas of the ship including the fo'c'sle (commonly known as the anchor chain room), new multimedia presentations and exhibit collections, interactive educational stations and a brand new state-of-the-art public pier.
Also new to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is the 12,240 square-foot interactive Exploreum - which contains 18 different hands-on exhibits - that teaches guests about the different properties of the sea, air, space and living at sea as each relates to the ship Intrepid. In the Exploreum, guests can experience a flight simulator, climb a cargo net, transmit messages using Morse code, crawl through living quarters of crewmembers, learn how the Intrepid turned salt water into fresh water and perform various tasks while wearing space gloves.
Museum Hours are Monday - Friday, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Saturday - Sunday, 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM. Cost of Admission is $22 for adults; Seniors and College Students, $18; Youth and Veterans $17. Active military and children are free. All tickets are subject to a $2 facility fee. Tickets are available for purchase on the Intrepid's website,
www.intrepidmuseum.org.
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