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The test was a dress rehearsal for the Apollo 1 crew — Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. The ultimate goal was to check out the command module, NASA's first three-man spacecraft that would take astronauts to the moon.

The crew was rehearsing the real launch, which was about a month away. They were suited up and in the capsule running through checklists and testing equipment.

But something sparked in the oxygen-rich environment. Within seconds, the capsule filled with flames, smoke and toxic gases.

The capsule was pressurized with 100 percent oxygen. In that environment, something not considered a fire hazard was extremely combustible. The hatch of the capsule opened inward, making it difficult for the crew to open it.

After the accident, there were hundreds of significant changes to the capsule and safety procedures. Only 21 months later, NASA sent humans back into space aboard Apollo 7. And less than a year after that, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed Apollo 11 on the moon.

For 50 years, NASA kept the Apollo 1 command module locked up — until now. Beginning Friday, the hatch from the burned capsule will be put on public display at the Kennedy Space Center as a tribute to the sacrifices of Grissom, White and Chaffee.

It was nearly two months before the remains [of the crew] were recovered from the ocean floor, about 18 miles off the shore of Cape Canaveral.

Capt. Michael Smith, the pilot of the Challenger was buried in Section 7A, Grave 208, May 3, 1986. On May 19, 1986, Francis "Dick" Scobee's cremated remains were interred in Section 46, Grave 1129.

Early on the morning of May 20, 1986, the unidentified remains of all seven astronauts were buried near Scobee's grave in Section 46.

It was decided by family members and NASA to construct the monument over the cremated remains in Section 46.