or without sacrifice. to this day americans grieve the loss of three brave astronauts of apollo 1 who were lost in a fire on the launchpad in january 1967. we think of them and their families even today. the risks for apollo 11 were so great, the odds were so long, that many fear that even if our astronauts made it to the moon they might not make it back. in fact, history records that president nixon prepared a speech in the event of tragedy, where he would explain to the nation that the vision had failed. but of course the mission didn t fail. after all, with 400,000 men, women behind the mission at nasa and with the hearts and prayers of the american people, how could it fail?