To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the tragic death of the three astronauts who were supposed to be the first people on the moon, NASA has placed the hatch from the Apollo 1 spacecraft capsule on display. <br/><br/>The January 27, 1967, tragedy involved three astronauts: veteran Virgil Grissom, first American spacewalker Ed White, and rookie Roger Chaffee, as they participated in a countdown rehearsal at Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex. <br/><br/>The capsule that housed the three men suddenly became engulfed in smoke, from the inside. With only seconds to report the fire and open the hatch, the operation took too long, and the astronauts died. The families of the Apollo 1 astronauts persuaded NASA to dedicate an exhibit to the accident.