Roger Chaffee, born February 15, 1935 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was an astronaut, who perished in the Apollo 1 fire, January 27, 1967. He had risen to the rank of lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy and was selected as an astronaut in 1963.
He was capsule communicator for the Gemini 3 and Gemini 4 missions, before being assigned to the Apollo 1 mission, planned for launch February 21, 1967. During a routine pre-launch test on Janary 27 with fellow astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom and Ed White, a fire broke out in the capsule. The flame was fueled by the oxygen rich atmosphere and the burning materials released toxic gases which contributed to the astronauts' death.
As a result of the tragedy, the capsule went under a significant redesign.
Chaffee has been memorialized in many ways, including naming a crater on the far side of the moon after him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_B._Chaffee
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