The Apollo Photo Archive series comprises the most detailed pictorial record of the Apollo program ever created. Each mission, from Apollo 1 through 17, is featured in a single volume, each containing more than 500 photos and captions. Each mission is described, from the construction of the spacecraft and assembly of the crew through the training, rollout, preflight festivities, countdown, launch, the flight itself, splashdown, and even postflight media appearances and related activities. The first manned mission planned for the Apollo program also produced a first tragedy: no US astronaut had previously died aboard a spacecraft. The Apollo 1 command module caught fire on the launchpad, claiming the lives of all three astronauts on board.