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100% Pure oxegen in the capsule ignited by static somewherein the capsule

Actually the Apollo 1 fire was due to a 100% oxygen atmosphere that was pressurized to 16.5psi, which allowed a short circuit because of a chaffed wiring bundle insulation under an access door by Gus Grissom's feet, that led to a confligration that killed the crew within 30 seconds. There was also an abundance flammable material in the command module, plus it turned out the wiring insulation easily caught on fire in a pure O2 enviornment.

Subsequent space missions reduced the spacecraft pressure to 3.5psi, which greatly reduced the chance of a pure O2 fire. The space shuttle used a standard air mix 79% nitrogen 19% oxygen. If you watch the astronauts preparing to go on a spacewalk, you'll see them with an oxygen mask on pre-breathing pure O2 to flush the nitrogen from their bodies.

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13y ago

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