When Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds into its flight on the morning of 28 January 1986, it represented one of the most shocking events in the history of American spaceflight. A Presidential Commission was immediately convened to explore what had gone wrong, but with the vast complexity of the space shuttle and so many vested interests involved in the investigation, discovering the truth presented an almost impossible challenge. A truly independent member of the investigation was Richard Feynman. One of the most accomplished scientists of his generation, he worked on the Manhattan Project building the first atom bomb and won the Nobel Prize for his breakthroughs in quantum physics. Feynman deployed exceptional integrity, charm and relentless scientific logic to investigate the secrets of the Shuttle disaster and in doing so, helped make the US Space Programme safer.
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00:00:00Tonight, Space Shuttle Challenger on launch pad 39B as the Mammoth Space Center in Florida.
00:00:18It accounted and continues for tomorrow's launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger with its crew of seven, including New Hampshire schoolteacher Kristen McAuliffe.
00:00:25The Challenger mission L-51 has been the 51L mission ready to go.
00:00:42At seven o'clock, the Challenger crew met for their traditional pre-flight breakfast.
00:00:47Roger, thanks Randy, and they're shooting 0-2-4.
00:00:50Okay, everybody, cab's in.
00:00:52Copy P-O-3.
00:00:53Pfizer's down.
00:00:550-2-1.
00:01:00Ladies and gentlemen of the faculty, students, quiet please.
00:01:07Please welcome our esteemed guest lecturer, winner of the Einstein Award, one of the 10 most significant physicists of all time, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, Dr. Richard Feynman.
00:01:23I bribed him to sell the nice stuff. Clearly, I just escaped from jail.
00:01:43Energy from potential to kinetic gives you...
00:01:53You see that?
00:01:55No, don't write it down.
00:02:02Not until you know what it means.
00:02:04This will not hurt you.
00:02:15It might hurt me.
00:02:17Why didn't I have you write down the equation?
00:02:38You'd write it out.
00:02:39La-de-da-de-da.
00:02:40You feel pretty smart, right?
00:02:42But now you understand it.
00:02:45Mom, hurry up!
00:02:47Coming.
00:02:48They're just getting down in about three minutes, and they think they can do it.
00:02:50They are counting, the ice is cleared away, and Challenger should be going away very soon.
00:02:55Let's get down to the Kennedy Space Center and take a look at Challenger sitting on the pad as they continue the countdown.
00:03:01Challenger's launch will be the 25th space shuttle mission.
00:03:04It's estimated over 30,000 people will be involved.
00:03:07Damn.
00:03:08I'm out there.
00:03:09At a total cost of nearly $40 billion.
00:03:12There goes Crystal McAuliffe, first teacher in space.
00:03:20During the mission, McAuliffe will be conducting scientific experiments, which will be beamed live to children in schoolrooms across America.
00:03:27The New Hampshire teachers describe Challenger as the ultimate field trip.
00:03:31What is science?
00:03:33Science is a way to teach how.
00:03:37Something gets to be known.
00:03:43And as much as anything can be known, because nothing is known, absolutely.
00:03:50It's how to handle doubt.
00:03:53And uncertainty.
00:03:54Five minutes 10, nine, eight, seven, six.
00:03:57We have main engine start.
00:03:59Four, three, two, one.
00:04:01Liftoff of the 25th space shuttle mission, and it has cleared the tower.
00:04:05Yes!
00:04:07Yes!
00:04:17Engines at 65%, three engines up.
00:04:21We're controlling the fuel bill.
00:04:23We've reached it at 80,000.
00:04:24Roger, Challenger.
00:04:26Challenger.
00:04:28Go with throttle up.
00:04:29Science teaches us what the rules of evidence are.
00:04:35We mess with that at our peril.
00:04:391 minute 15 seconds for us.
00:04:50We will report more as we have information available.
00:04:54Checking with the recovery forces.
00:05:04Obviously a major malfunction.
00:05:08We have no downlink.
00:05:24The space agency NASA has not yet confirmed the deaths of the school teacher and six other astronauts who were on board the shuttle Challenger when it exploded on takeoff this morning in Florida.
00:05:37But there seems little doubt that there were any survivors.
00:05:41NASA is conducting a news conference at this moment.
00:05:44Challenger exploded into a fireball and faces came down.
00:05:47Never in 25 launches of the space shuttle had a life been lost.
00:05:54Today, that record went down in flames.
00:05:57Tonight, the search for survivors turned up none.
00:05:59The search for answers is just starting.
00:06:02Bruce Hall begins our coverage of a spaceship that became a fireball and a national tragedy.
00:06:07Go for launch and liftoff and left to the cheers of the young students of the first ever U.S. teacher-astronaut.
00:06:15Moments later, a massive explosion.
00:06:18The cheering stops.
00:06:21I'm sorry.
00:06:22I can't watch this stuff.
00:06:27Seven Americans with the highest hopes.
00:06:31A billion dollars worth of the highest technology.
00:06:34Gone in seconds.
00:06:35The worst disaster in the U.S. space program ever.
00:06:51Hello?
00:06:52Hold on, hold on.
00:06:53No.
00:06:54Wait.
00:07:00Find my menagerie.
00:07:04Sorry, how is it?
00:07:04Hold on.
00:07:05Hold on.
00:07:09Yeah, who's this?
00:07:11Bill.
00:07:12Bill who?
00:07:14Bill Graham.
00:07:16I've got 15,000 former students.
00:07:20Listen, pal, how did you get a hold of my home number?
00:07:25You're ahead of what?
00:07:28NASA?
00:07:29You got your results back yet?
00:07:51Nope.
00:07:52What's booking you?
00:07:53I got a phone call this morning.
00:08:01They want me to go to Washington.
00:08:05They sit on a presidential inquiry thing.
00:08:10What?
00:08:10Find out why the shuttle exploded.
00:08:14Did you say yes?
00:08:15I'm not even that end of the space program.
00:08:19I know people died, and I'm very sorry about that.
00:08:22But, Gwen, I do my work, my teaching.
00:08:28I mean, you guys, they just want to say that they bagged the famous physicist guy.
00:08:34They're a bunch of bureaucrats and generals with pokers up their asses.
00:08:39What's your name?
00:08:43What?
00:08:44You just said it.
00:08:46They wouldn't know where to look.
00:08:48You would.
00:08:49You can't pass up a puzzle.
00:08:51You're not as important as this.
00:08:59I'm sorry, love.
00:09:00You're right.
00:09:01I wasn't thinking.
00:09:05Write and explain that you're not fitting.
00:09:07I'm fit.
00:09:08I'm fit.
00:09:09Who are you kidding?
00:09:10I'm fit as a fiddle.
00:09:11What do you Yorkshire folks say?
00:09:13I'm fit as a flea.
00:09:16You want the proof?
00:09:16What?
00:09:17Especially.
00:09:18You smell so good.
00:09:22Okay, but then you'd have no excuse.
00:09:29Damn you, woman.
00:09:36I'll have to wear a tie.
00:09:37You're so good.
00:09:38I'll have to wear a tie.
00:09:42I'm not going to wear a tie.
00:09:43I'm not going to wear a tie.
00:09:44I'm not going to wear a tie here.
00:09:46I don't know.
00:09:47I don't know.
00:09:47I don't know.
00:09:48I don't know.
00:09:50It's cold.
00:10:08NASA Headquarters.
00:10:10NASA, you got it.
00:10:12Cold.
00:10:14With America still in shock after the world's worst space disaster,
00:10:21the address given by President Reagan in the hours following the accident
00:10:25now seems to have captured the mood of a nation.
00:10:27We mourn seven heroes.
00:10:29We mourn their loss as a nation together.
00:10:31So, sir, are you something to do in the inquiry there?
00:10:33Yeah, I'm on the Presidential Commission.
00:10:36Ah.
00:10:37Alongside some super important people.
00:10:40It slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God.
00:10:45Focus now turns to the cause of the tragedy as the Presidential Commission...
00:10:49We gotta get back up there.
00:10:50...for its first meeting.
00:10:52Something went really wrong.
00:10:53Senior members of the aerospace and life of the community...
00:10:56It's just...
00:10:57Keep that.
00:11:12Sir, could I trouble you for an autograph?
00:11:15Sure.
00:11:17Who do I make it out to?
00:11:20Oh.
00:11:21Not you, sir.
00:11:22I meant Mr. Neil Armstrong.
00:11:24First man on the moon.
00:11:26You can mail it.
00:11:28That's my driver number at that address.
00:11:30Okay.
00:11:31I promise.
00:11:34Sir, what do you expect to find?
00:11:38You can find the way you expect to find.
00:11:45Oh, yes.
00:11:46Pardon me.
00:11:47Mr. Armstrong.
00:11:48Excuse me.
00:11:49I think we met.
00:11:50I'm Bill Rogers.
00:11:51I'm Chairman of the Commission.
00:11:53We're very fortunate to have you with us.
00:11:55Hey, I've got somebody who wants to meet you.
00:11:58Dr. Sally Ride.
00:12:00Oh.
00:12:01Our first woman in space.
00:12:03Wow.
00:12:04Nice to meet you.
00:12:05You too.
00:12:06Good journey?
00:12:08I took the red eye from L.A.
00:12:11I'll never do it.
00:12:13Dr. Alton Keel.
00:12:14Our executive director.
00:12:16Nobel laureate, Richard Feynman.
00:12:18Your name I recognize too.
00:12:19Fellow physicist.
00:12:21Yeah, formerly I've been in Washington several years.
00:12:23Oh.
00:12:25How is your integrity?
00:12:29That's just insulting.
00:12:30No.
00:12:31Don't take me seriously.
00:12:33I don't...
00:12:38Commissioner, I appreciate you all coming together at short notice.
00:12:43We have a huge, vital task ahead of us, upon which might depend the future of manned spaceflight in this country.
00:12:51Now I intend for this investigation to follow an orderly and proper procedure.
00:12:57We are not going to conduct it in a manner that is in any way unfairly critical of NASA.
00:13:04Because we believe, and certainly I believe, that NASA has done an excellent job.
00:13:08And I believe that the American people think so too.
00:13:13Anyone.
00:13:15We have to accept the fact that this shuttle is the most complex machine that's ever been built.
00:13:21I understand it has more than two and a half million parts.
00:13:25It may be after due consideration.
00:13:27It's just not possible to identify the cause.
00:13:30Now, in terms of scheduling...
00:13:32That's nothing.
00:13:34I'm sorry, Dr. Feynman?
00:13:36Two and a half million small potatoes.
00:13:40I mean, really, look, I don't know much about space rockets, but I know a little something about probability.
00:13:47Something I developed called path integral formulation.
00:13:54It's quantum mechanics, yuck, yuck.
00:13:56But, um, basically what it means is that you can figure out the probability of something occurring, not just when you've got two and a half million events, but an infinity of possibilities.
00:14:12You know, over-large the number of causal paths for whatever happened to Challenger.
00:14:19An explanation can be found.
00:14:24What are we doing here if we don't think it's possible?
00:14:28All right?
00:14:29Uh, Chairman Rogers, I headed an investigation into the failure of a Titan rocket, and I suggest I outline the procedure we used there.
00:14:41I appreciate the offer, General, continue, but I think in this case there's far less collectible evidence.
00:14:46I don't like to contradict you, sir, but in the case of the shuttle, as there were human beings aboard, it generates far more database material.
00:14:54Mr. Rogers, what the General said is the case.
00:14:56There are external cameras, there are black box recordings, there are telemetry sensors, there's a great deal of information.
00:15:01Thank you, General, and Mr. Armstrong, I'm certain we can get back to this.
00:15:07Please, anyone.
00:15:08Chairman?
00:15:09Yes?
00:15:10I don't know about anyone else, but, uh, coming in I got some major press attention.
00:15:16I'd like to know what we're to say, for the sake of the astronaut families, what are we saying at this point?
00:15:23Well, this is very important. Any and all inquiries from the press are to be directed to Chairman Rogers' office.
00:15:28So, the plan is, ladies and gentlemen, we will reconvene in five days' time.
00:15:38But for the present, enjoy your stay in Washington.
00:15:41What?
00:15:43We're not going to press it.
00:15:46Kio, we don't start right away.
00:15:48Great.
00:15:49Dr. Feynman, Bill Graham, out of NASA. Thank you.
00:15:58You know the guy that got me into this?
00:15:59Well, I took your physics-ex lectures way back, never forgotten. I think you're going to bring something unique to the commission.
00:16:11You know, I abandoned my teaching and a lot of important consulting to come here. I didn't imagine I was going to be told to sit on my tush for a week.
00:16:28So, here's what I'm going to need. I'm going to need a crash course on shuttle design. I need to know everything on how this thing was put together so you can start supplying me with technical manuals and so forth.
00:16:43And most of all, you got to get me straight on the factory floor.
00:16:46I'm pretty new to NASA myself. I actually only took over two months ago.
00:16:51That's bad timing.
00:16:52We're based here in Washington, but the shuttle engines and systems are all out of the Marshall Space Flight Center. It pretty much takes care of itself.
00:16:59You're the head of the whole schmear. I mean, you can get me in this Marshall place, otherwise I'm a busy fellow.
00:17:04I'll do my best. I'll get on it right away.
00:17:07Great. Thanks.
00:17:12I like that you didn't live up there on the mighty chairman.
00:17:16You take it. I don't care for limousine.
00:17:19Well, neither do I. I'm just a two-star general. Don't get assigned limousine.
00:17:24Take the subway.
00:17:27Pleasure.
00:17:28You too.
00:17:32Taxi!
00:17:37Oh, and there was a phone call for you, sir.
00:17:39Please call your doctor.
00:17:41Doctor...
00:17:44Dr. Weiss?
00:17:48The elevator's just to your right, sir.
00:17:52The elevator's just to your right, sir.
00:17:54To begin what may be a lengthy process, millions of Americans who watched our heroes perish
00:18:09only 73 seconds after takeoff on that cold January morning are waiting for answers.
00:18:12Nancy and I are tamed to the core for the tragedy of the shuttle challenge.
00:18:15We know we share the...
00:18:16Hello.
00:18:17Graham.
00:18:18Oh, you got me in. Great.
00:18:19Don't take a plane down in the morning.
00:18:21Thanks.
00:18:23Alpha Plus.
00:18:36I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program.
00:18:40Don't take a plane down in the morning.
00:18:43Thanks. Alpha Plus.
00:18:48I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program.
00:18:52We don't hide our space program.
00:18:54We don't keep secrets and cover things up.
00:18:57We do it all up front and in public.
00:19:00That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute.
00:19:09Oh, it's immense.
00:19:17This is an identical craft.
00:19:19No, it's a training simulator.
00:19:21But for your purposes, the flight deck systems, the payload bay, etc.
00:19:26virtually identical.
00:19:34Massive.
00:19:35Want to see the flight deck?
00:19:39You have four human beings jammed in this space.
00:20:02Can I sit here?
00:20:03Yeah.
00:20:06Wow.
00:20:09Okay.
00:20:11They got S-band communication links, environmental control systems, cabin pressure gauges.
00:20:19What is that?
00:20:20Emergency oxygen.
00:20:22Don't touch things.
00:20:23Dick Feynman.
00:20:40I'm on the commission.
00:20:42I got nothing to hide.
00:20:43If I was to ask you engineers, never mind what the managers say, but you guys, given all your experience, what you thought the probability was of an accident on any single lodge, what would you say?
00:21:00If you don't want to say how loud, perhaps you could write down on a piece of paper.
00:21:11You're looking at the solid rocket boosters.
00:21:12Okay, so they're not made here.
00:21:19No, they're made by our contractors, Morton Thiokol in Utah, railroaded into Kennedy and Conception.
00:21:38That's a pretty standard Tang and Cleavers joint.
00:21:41Look, there's no ways it was the solid rocket boosters.
00:21:44How so certain?
00:21:45Because they don't fly with holes in them.
00:21:47If it was the SRB, it would have exploded on the launch pad.
00:21:50These kept on flying.
00:21:52You see it in the footage.
00:21:53You watch the footage.
00:21:54Tell me what you saw.
00:21:55What went through your mind.
00:21:57What did you think it was?
00:21:59I thought it was the main engines.
00:22:01Okay.
00:22:02Why?
00:22:03Why the main engines?
00:22:04Because of the complexity.
00:22:05They're working at the outer edge of any experience base.
00:22:08In the blade technology.
00:22:10No, no, no.
00:22:11It's more than the blades.
00:22:12It's...
00:22:13Hey, there is no ways that I'm ratting out my coworkers here.
00:22:17Look, pal, if we're not allowed to find out what went wrong,
00:22:21there will be no more coworkers.
00:22:23All these jobs will be gone.
00:22:25Kaput.
00:22:28Won't be another shuttle launch.
00:22:33Of the events on the morning of the 28th of January,
00:22:36the Presidential Commission investigating the accident
00:22:38headed by former Secretary of State William Rogers
00:22:41has met mostly behind closed doors.
00:22:43So far, it's given no hints
00:22:47about what it believes may have been the cause.
00:22:52Meanwhile, off the coast of Florida,
00:22:54the hunt for Challenger wreckage continues.
00:22:57The combined NASA, Naval, and Coast Guard operation
00:22:59involving 14 ships, 4 submarines, and 11 aircraft
00:23:02is combing hundreds of square miles of ocean.
00:23:05Although NASA today released pictures showing recovered debris,
00:23:07they've been unable to confirm
00:23:09if they've found the crew compartment.
00:23:11In the absence of detailed information
00:23:12about what happened to Challenger,
00:23:14speculation about the cause of the accident continues to grow.
00:23:17Recent theories include everything
00:23:19from a computer programming error
00:23:20to unusually strong winds.
00:23:22The
00:23:34The
00:23:36The
00:23:40The
00:23:42The
00:23:44The
00:23:46The
00:23:48Chairman Rogers, the boat's, uh, just pulled in the crew compartment.
00:24:09Can you tell me, was the oxygen activated?
00:24:14Yes, Dr. Ride. It was.
00:24:18We, uh, maybe won't make that public straight away.
00:24:23Excuse me.
00:24:25Dr. Feynman, it's very important that this team stays together all the time.
00:24:48Why?
00:24:50It's been reported to me that you spent some time at Marshall, alone. That's not very helpful.
00:24:57Oh, well, Mr. Rogers, I don't find it helpful to stand around.
00:25:01The other commissioners are just being respectful.
00:25:05And you're saying I'm not?
00:25:08You understand the implications of the oxygen being activated?
00:25:14I do. The astronauts had to do that themselves, which means that they were alive for at least some of those two minutes and 36 seconds before they slammed into the ocean.
00:25:28Mr. Rogers, I'm an atheist. I personally doubt that they're touching the face of God, so I prefer to show my respect by finding the cause of their appalling deaths and not stand around looking sad.
00:25:37You know, I didn't even want to be on this commission, but now that I'm on it, I got every intention of finding out what went wrong.
00:25:45Mr. Rogers, you know, I don't know that NASA did an excellent job.
00:26:01The group will be leaving in 30 minutes, except for General Kutina, who's made his own arrangements.
00:26:07I also may have my own arrangements.
00:26:11I can't force you to go.
00:26:13Nope.
00:26:14Are you going to work all night?
00:26:34Are you going to work all night?
00:26:39Uh, if necessary. I don't know.
00:26:42How do you plan to get back to Washington?
00:26:44Uh, I got myself on kind of a pickle.
00:26:47I want to go back to Marshall.
00:26:50Guess I'll hire a car by hundreds of miles.
00:26:54Well, I can give you a lift. I'll drop you in Alabama.
00:26:56Oh. Thank you.
00:26:59Here. 0600?
00:27:01Okay.
00:27:09Well, I may not get a limo, but occasionally I get the use of a government jet.
00:27:18No.
00:27:19You imagine I was gonna drive you 400 miles?
00:27:21This is tremendous.
00:27:25New for you?
00:27:27You serious?
00:27:29No.
00:27:36It's okay.
00:27:39You know, what you have to realize is that you are uniquely independent.
00:27:51Yeah, how's that?
00:27:52Well, everyone on the commission has strong associations.
00:27:57To who?
00:27:58Well, to NASA, Armstrong, Ride, the government, Keele, Rogers was Secretary of State.
00:28:04And Bill Graham's even a personal friend of President Reagan's.
00:28:08And you?
00:28:09Me, the Air Force.
00:28:11How does the Air Force?
00:28:13Air Force 3-9 or 265.
00:28:14I have a good friend here.
00:28:15I have a good friend here.
00:28:16Delta 4-2-0.
00:28:17Heading 3-2-0.
00:28:18I have a good friend here.
00:28:19I have a good friend here.
00:28:20265.
00:28:21I have a good friend here.
00:28:22265.
00:28:23How does the Air Force?
00:28:24You're the only independent.
00:28:25I'm independent.
00:28:26I'm invincible.
00:28:27Yeah, but check six.
00:28:28What, check six?
00:28:29That's a fighter pilot's expression at 6 o'clock.
00:28:36The blind spot.
00:28:37Directly behind you.
00:28:38Uh-huh.
00:28:39Watch my ass.
00:28:40Okay, watch your ass here.
00:28:50What?
00:28:51It's a little steep.
00:28:52That's what we call the diamond.
00:28:53Wow, now that is very beautiful.
00:29:20What the hell?
00:29:29You happy with that?
00:29:30With that vibration?
00:29:31Don't worry.
00:29:32It steadies again after 65%.
00:29:35But to get to 65%, you gotta go through that?
00:29:41Sometimes, yeah.
00:29:43Can I see components?
00:29:49The blades?
00:29:50Well, what is that?
00:30:03It's a crack in this blade.
00:30:06Yeah, it is an obvious crack.
00:30:17Yeah.
00:30:18The blades often get those after a flight, but that's not a flight safety problem.
00:30:22Well, what is it then?
00:30:24We were told to lock it as a maintenance problem.
00:30:26Only if it develops into a full fracture, that would be a failure.
00:30:30So, a failure only happens if it actually shears off?
00:30:33Uh-huh.
00:30:34Bull.
00:30:35Failure is the crack.
00:30:39Well, you could argue that...
00:30:40Failure is the crack.
00:30:41I mean, because it's not in the design.
00:30:43You know what I know is not supposed to crack.
00:30:50Who has the rest of the test data?
00:30:54Is that it?
00:30:55Is that it?
00:30:57Is that it?
00:30:59Did it?
00:31:00Is that it?
00:31:01Is that it?
00:31:02Is that it?
00:31:03Oh no.
00:31:04Oh no.
00:31:05Let me tell you something.
00:31:06You can take it.
00:31:07Oh no.
00:31:08Ah.
00:31:09I'm not sure.
00:31:10I don't know.
00:31:40I think we should start this discussion on the step-by-step process, so...
00:32:02Concentrate the investigation on the main engines.
00:32:05There are cracked turbine blades.
00:32:08As early as 1,375 seconds equivalent to full power level.
00:32:13Also, at 4,000 hertz, there are some nasty vibrations.
00:32:16So you think the cause lies within the engine?
00:32:19I bet my last dime on it.
00:32:21I just got back from Marshall.
00:32:22I just heard an interesting new definition of the word failure.
00:32:26Well, it's interesting that you should say that, Doctor.
00:32:28We've just received the telemetry data from NASA.
00:32:32And the sensors on the engines show that they performed absolutely perfectly.
00:32:38Get out of here.
00:32:39The engines began to shut down as fuel pressure decreased, exactly as designed.
00:32:48Well, that's extremely lucky, because I'm telling you those engines have profound problems.
00:32:53Now, there is a step-by-step process for us all to follow.
00:32:57And I respectfully request that, from now on, you abide by it.
00:33:05We're all trying to find the answer.
00:33:09All right.
00:33:11Shall we begin?
00:33:15Step by step.
00:33:19All right.
00:33:25Prof.
00:33:27Don't let the chairman put you off.
00:33:33Look, you should come by the house some night for a bite, if that appeals.
00:33:37Yeah?
00:33:38Okay, good.
00:33:39Excuse me for a second.
00:33:40Listen, I brought that stuff.
00:33:42Graham, why didn't I know that we had the results from the sensors on the engines?
00:33:47NASA drip feeding us information to suit itself?
00:33:50I hear you.
00:33:51Doing this with one hand tied behind my back.
00:33:54I hear you, but...
00:33:56Richard?
00:33:57You okay?
00:34:04You okay?
00:34:11I'll see you tomorrow.
00:34:12I goofed.
00:34:27I thought I had the answer.
00:34:30It was way off.
00:34:31So what are you going to do?
00:34:33You're going to stick with it?
00:34:34I don't know.
00:34:40Listen, there's a knock on the door.
00:34:41I'll call you later.
00:34:42All right.
00:34:43I'll come.
00:34:43You okay?
00:34:46I know.
00:34:48I'm okay.
00:34:48I'm not sure why they chose to just lay them out in this order.
00:35:18But this is this is half that. Sherman Rogers. Those would be the same.
00:35:26NASA's failure analysis team supplied still from camera E-207 trained on flight.
00:35:33Seems like it took a long time for this photograph to appear.
00:35:40Well, it's here now. What is that? A flame?
00:35:47Coming from a position on the side of the solid rocket booster.
00:35:51Did we know that? Did we know that already?
00:35:59We get stills from other angles. Am I right?
00:36:03They had cameras all around.
00:36:05Yeah. Yes. Some of the cameras that were looking directly at the area were not working on the day, I'm told.
00:36:17Well, that's unfortunate.
00:36:19Hmm.
00:36:25Can I have that please? Of course.
00:36:27Am I super late? I had to pick this up at the lab.
00:36:45No, no. It's not a problem. Nice car.
00:36:49You like it?
00:36:51I like it. I love it.
00:36:53I don't know if that enlargement is going to tell us anything.
00:36:57Let's see.
00:36:59Well, it's somewhat clear, no?
00:37:01No, that just makes the whole thing wider open.
00:37:03The flame is sharper.
00:37:04But that flame, where is it originating in?
00:37:06Perhaps what we're seeing is the tip of a larger flame on the other side where there's no damn camera.
00:37:12A flame is not a cause. A flame is an effect. It's a symptom.
00:37:17It doesn't tell us which component. Split, sheared off, cracked. It shows us nothing.
00:37:23It takes us nowhere.
00:37:28I want to show you something.
00:37:29Multiple successful launches, identical components, and launch locations.
00:37:33So what made that day special?
00:37:36What were the variables?
00:37:38Take a break, Prof.
00:37:48Oh.
00:37:53You lucky fella.
00:37:55Yeah, I'd be lucky if I could get it running. It's out of commission.
00:37:58Yeah, the carburetor's seizing this weather.
00:38:05This must be how you stay calm.
00:38:08Roger the Dodger has got me going crazy with that process of his.
00:38:14He's a lawyer. He's working it through the way he knows.
00:38:18Yeah, well, maybe some others are kind of working it through the way they know.
00:38:22What, you think somebody's working it for themselves?
00:38:25Do you?
00:38:27It's Washington, after all.
00:38:28Yeah, well, I can't believe I got myself back in this world.
00:38:32Government, politics.
00:38:34And military guys like me.
00:38:37You're surprisingly okay.
00:38:41I guess you had your fill of military personnel through the forties, so...
00:38:45What was your role back then?
00:38:54When?
00:38:56During the war, with the A-bomb.
00:38:58I did the theoretical figuring.
00:39:05It was the math.
00:39:08I calculated how much fissionable material would be necessary to make an effective weapon.
00:39:17It's not a good use of science.
00:39:19You helped end the war.
00:39:28Yeah.
00:39:33Wow.
00:39:34This is beautiful.
00:39:36Should we try that, Bordeaux?
00:39:38You go ahead. I no longer drink.
00:39:40I drink. I can't think.
00:39:52Oh, sir, we have maintenance. Look at your heating.
00:39:55Oh, thank you.
00:39:56Let me know if you still feel chilly.
00:39:58Yeah.
00:40:08Could you help me find the number of the National Weather Service?
00:40:18Can I borrow this?
00:40:19Sure.
00:40:21Yeah, please.
00:40:22Um, not a forecast.
00:40:24Uh, temperature at Cape Canaveral.
00:40:27Nearby.
00:40:29Yeah, Jacksonville, Florida.
00:40:30On the morning of the 28th of January.
00:40:53That's the variable.
00:40:57I got the variable.
00:40:59It was freezing cold in the morning of the launch.
00:41:01We need to focus our questioning of the NASA managers on stuff to do with temperature.
00:41:06Temperature? You talking about ice?
00:41:07I don't know.
00:41:08Perhaps out of weight of ice.
00:41:09Perhaps some metal component becoming brittle.
00:41:11I don't know which component.
00:41:13There are only two and a half million possibilities.
00:41:15I'm pretty certain.
00:41:17As certain as you were about the engines?
00:41:18Oh.
00:41:28Anything from NASA failure analysis?
00:41:30I'll do this afternoon.
00:41:34Dr. Feynman's becoming a real pain in the ass.
00:41:39Well, yeah.
00:41:44You betcha.
00:41:48It's a very good question.
00:41:50I'm taking a long time at Hological University.
00:41:52I'm taking a long time to die.
00:41:53You have to focus on your life.
00:41:55And you're going to take a long time to leave.
00:41:57You're going to take a long time at Hinal,
00:42:06I'm taking a long time to die.
00:42:07I'm taking a short time to die.
00:42:09I want to go to the end of the night.
00:42:11You're like, yeah, no, you're going to drive away.
00:42:14You're getting a long time to die.
00:42:15Dr. Weiss?
00:42:32Dick.
00:42:36What are you doing here?
00:42:38Well, if the mountain won't go to Muhammad,
00:42:41you didn't answer my calls.
00:42:43So you tracked me down all the way across the country?
00:42:46No, no, no.
00:42:46I'm at Washington Hospital Center for a conference.
00:42:48You got an hour to come over there?
00:42:51Now?
00:42:52Yeah.
00:42:55Sure.
00:42:56Hold on.
00:42:58Um, I need to get this delivered to Dr. Keel,
00:43:03Presidential Commission, this address.
00:43:06It's extremely important that I get there.
00:43:08Yes, sir.
00:43:13Good to see you.
00:43:15Hi.
00:43:27Of the vengeance?
00:43:30Mm-hmm.
00:43:31It's compromising your remaining kidney.
00:43:36Show me the cells.
00:43:38Sure.
00:43:49Mm-hmm.
00:43:51Okay.
00:43:52That is not so pretty.
00:43:55I read up my chances of my sarcoma recording.
00:43:59What's the deal if we add in this lymphoma?
00:44:01It's pretty difficult to calculate the decline.
00:44:04Don't weasel it, Doc.
00:44:06It's math.
00:44:07Look, Dick, it's not something we see.
00:44:10The particular cancers you have that are extremely rare,
00:44:13a chance of having them in conjunction.
00:44:16Yeah, but given what you were doing during the war...
00:44:19Mm-hmm.
00:44:20It could even matters.
00:44:24What do you think?
00:44:25Well, the radiation, a lot of safety precautions with her.
00:44:28For the test, I...
00:44:30For the test, I had a pair of dark glasses, which I never put on.
00:44:35Jeez, they were...
00:44:36They were crazy days.
00:44:40We never slept.
00:44:42And we were on fire, you know, getting the theory and the math and the physics.
00:44:48It was a race.
00:44:49We thought we were saving civilization,
00:44:50but then we found out the determinants didn't have nuclear capability,
00:44:54and we kept on.
00:44:55Science was...
00:44:56So exciting.
00:45:06Should have stopped.
00:45:09We threw a party.
00:45:11More people struggled and died.
00:45:13We threw a party.
00:45:13Hey, you were young.
00:45:17I wasn't a child.
00:45:19Yeah.
00:45:25Okay.
00:45:32I guess we'll talk on the phone.
00:45:34Sure.
00:45:37I think there are probably worse ways to go.
00:45:39Hey, hands are cold.
00:45:44All the time.
00:45:45What is that?
00:45:47It's possibly lymphoma.
00:45:50The blood gets gummy.
00:45:51Capillaries lose their flexibility.
00:45:53They can't expand.
00:45:56Thanks.
00:46:01Yeah, I just taught me components that are flexible.
00:46:05Like, what about a solid rocket booster?
00:46:09Go ahead.
00:46:17Thank you, Louis.
00:46:18Hey.
00:46:20I thought this might be helpful.
00:46:21It's a section model of the SRB joint.
00:46:25I don't want to see a model.
00:46:26I want to see the real thing.
00:46:27So there are two O-rings, and they squidge in here.
00:46:42Correct.
00:46:44Has there ever been a history of problems with them?
00:46:47Well, there has been some erosion, even some blow-by.
00:46:51Blow-by is what?
00:46:52So, getting past the first O-ring.
00:46:54No, I mean that the seal is incomplete.
00:46:57Right.
00:46:58But the manufacturer said that...
00:46:59Morton Thiokol.
00:47:00Right.
00:47:01Thiokol said that the blow-by never got past the second O-ring.
00:47:04Never.
00:47:04But if something prevented the O-ring from doing its job,
00:47:09if it became rigid,
00:47:13because, for example,
00:47:14it was cold...
00:47:15I think what we're looking at is the O-rings within the seal of the SRB.
00:47:32Lower temperatures would diminish the flexibility.
00:47:34Rubber would get harder, less malleable.
00:47:36At a certain point, it would be too rigid to move into the gap.
00:47:41Bill, I need any data NASA have on the timings of springback.
00:47:48Resilience of the SRB O-rings in response to temperature.
00:47:52Ladies and gentlemen, good morning.
00:47:56Just a reminder that we have many witnesses today,
00:47:59and the press will be in the room.
00:48:02Yeah.
00:48:03Ladies and gentlemen,
00:48:04I would like to call the commission to order,
00:48:07so please take your seats.
00:48:10Make yourselves comfortable.
00:48:13Pilot to co-pilot. Fix your hair.
00:48:16Our first witness is Mr. Malloy.
00:48:19Mr. Malloy, would you come forward and identify yourself, please?
00:48:23I am Lawrence Malloy,
00:48:25Solid Rocket Booster Project Manager for NASA
00:48:28at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
00:48:30All right.
00:48:31Commissioners, anyone?
00:48:36Dr. Wright.
00:48:39Mr. Malloy,
00:48:41in your position at the Marshall Space Flight Center,
00:48:44you'd be aware of correspondence,
00:48:47memos, et cetera?
00:48:48I guess I'm wondering whether memos exist relating to problems of launching with the O-rings at low temperatures.
00:48:59I understand the morning the launch was exceptionally cold.
00:49:03I'm not aware of such documents at Marshall.
00:49:07It's not correspondence,
00:49:09but on the evening before the launch,
00:49:11as a matter of routine,
00:49:14those of us from NASA asked our technical people and our contractors
00:49:17if there were any concerns about low temperature.
00:49:22Morton Thiokol,
00:49:24who make the Solid Rocket Boosters,
00:49:26presented us with the fact that the lowest temperature we had ever flown in O-ring
00:49:30was 53 degrees,
00:49:32and they wanted to point out that we would be outside of that experience base.
00:49:38But having heard the discussion,
00:49:40we all concluded that there was no problem with the predicted temperatures.
00:49:45And I have a document from the management of Morton Thiokol to that effect.
00:49:48Well, thank you.
00:49:51Thank you, Mr. Malloy.
00:49:52You may stand down for the time being.
00:49:55Some guy in the back who wants to say something.
00:49:58I have something to add.
00:50:00I beg your pardon, I hear you.
00:50:01I need to add to what he said, please.
00:50:03All right, sir.
00:50:04Please, step forward.
00:50:05Step forward.
00:50:05Identify yourself.
00:50:14My name is Alan McDonald.
00:50:16I work for Morton Thiokol.
00:50:19I'm the director of the Solid Rocket Motors project.
00:50:23So I was at the launch at Kennedy.
00:50:25I'd like to say something about the meeting the night before the launch that
00:50:29Mr. Malloy talked about.
00:50:33Our Thiokol engineers
00:50:35warned NASA.
00:50:40They recommended NASA not to launch below 53 degrees.
00:50:44And I agreed with him.
00:50:44That was the coldest that we knew was safe.
00:50:48So you said not to launch below 53 degrees.
00:50:53And what was the actual temperature that morning?
00:50:56We believed that at launch, it was going to be much colder.
00:51:01Below 32 degrees.
00:51:03Below freezing.
00:51:06NASA wasn't happy with that.
00:51:08Larry Malloy said, my God, Thiokol, when do we launch?
00:51:14April?
00:51:17Let me understand this.
00:51:19Now, are you saying that NASA applied pressure to change the launch recommendation?
00:51:27Yes, sir, there was pressure.
00:51:31They said, go review the data.
00:51:33Our people in Utah came back, recommended to NASA to launch.
00:51:38I refuse to sign.
00:51:40It is important that NASA be given the opportunity to respond to what's just been alleged.
00:51:51We must allow...
00:51:52What the hell is going on here?
00:52:01Some people say McDonald's going to CYA.
00:52:03CYA, what is that?
00:52:05That stands for cover your ass.
00:52:06But if they were warned...
00:52:08The astronauts you warned.
00:52:09I want to know what's happening right here between NASA and the contractors.
00:52:13We need to talk more to him.
00:52:15Richard.
00:52:16Richard.
00:52:17The data you wanted and the resistance time of the over...
00:52:19Okay, thanks.
00:52:20We need to hear more from him.
00:52:21Can you stop Mr. McDonald from...
00:52:23Damn.
00:52:25Damn.
00:52:25Damn.
00:52:26Damn.
00:52:27Damn.
00:52:28Damn.
00:52:29Damn.
00:52:30Damn.
00:52:31Damn.
00:52:32Damn.
00:52:33Damn.
00:52:34Damn.
00:52:35Damn.
00:52:36Damn.
00:52:37Damn.
00:52:38Damn.
00:52:39Damn.
00:52:40Damn.
00:52:41Damn.
00:52:42Damn.
00:52:43Damn.
00:52:44Damn.
00:52:45Damn.
00:52:46Damn.
00:52:47Damn.
00:52:48Damn.
00:52:49Damn.
00:52:50Damn.
00:52:51Damn.
00:52:52Damn.
00:52:53Damn.
00:52:54Damn.
00:52:55Hi, I need to contact Alan McDonald with NASA's Challenger Failure Analysis Team.
00:53:06I phoned, but I was told he's no longer in Washington.
00:53:11That information is restricted.
00:53:14He was on the team, but he's been removed?
00:53:17I can't answer that, sir.
00:53:25Look, all I want to do is speak to Alan McDonald.
00:53:29What?
00:53:30So there's no one I can talk to in the whole entirety of Morton Thiacall.
00:53:34There's no one who can answer my question?
00:53:38Well, have a nice day.
00:53:55General, I tried to find McDonald.
00:54:24No luck, but it's clear why his boss has wanted to please NASA.
00:54:29Very big money at stake.
00:54:31I'll catch you later.
00:54:43Hey, Graham.
00:54:45That springback on the O-ring was measured over two hours.
00:54:49It's useless information.
00:54:52I'm really sorry. That's what I got from Marshall.
00:54:54Remember what it was to be a scientist before government got to you?
00:54:57You don't think I gave you on purpose?
00:55:01No.
00:55:03Look, I have this grand title.
00:55:06The NASA old guard, they handed me a list of who should be on the commission.
00:55:10It was tough to persuade them to take you.
00:55:12I'm sorry to have gotten you into this.
00:55:16Well, when you read my notes that I sent, you'll see the crap that goes down at Marshall.
00:55:22Notes?
00:55:23And my write-ups.
00:55:26Those analyses and my examination of the crazy engineering.
00:55:29Richard.
00:55:37Richard.
00:55:37Richard.
00:55:42Sally.
00:55:43Did you get a set of notes?
00:55:46My observations?
00:55:48No.
00:55:49What the hell happened to my notes?
00:56:06Sally Ryan says she didn't get them.
00:56:09Did the others?
00:56:09Okay.
00:56:15I had sent over from my hotel a stack of typed-up notes wrapped in brown paper,
00:56:21proper analyses of all my observations of the engineering so far,
00:56:24with a request to you to have copies made for each of the commissioners.
00:56:27I have no knowledge of this.
00:56:28No such notes ever arrived on this desk.
00:56:30Perhaps you can have them read down.
00:56:31I don't have time for this.
00:56:32You trusted your hotel to deliver something so important.
00:56:37Yeah.
00:56:39Dr. Feynman, please.
00:56:41As you can see, NASA is now cooperating fully with all of our requests for information.
00:56:56Well, then have copies made of everything and have it sent over to my hotel.
00:57:02I don't know what's going on, honey.
00:57:09I landed myself right back in a load of political crap.
00:57:14People seem to know a lot more than what they're saying.
00:57:19And I finally got a ton of stuff from NASA.
00:57:23It's full of anomalies.
00:57:25How can that be?
00:57:26Critical one moment.
00:57:27And safe to operate the next.
00:57:29Honey, I'm sorry.
00:57:34It's best for me to call you later.
00:57:37Are you all right?
00:57:38I'm fine.
00:57:40Honestly?
00:57:42No.
00:57:43I feel very well.
00:57:45All right.
00:57:46Speak tomorrow.
00:57:48Yeah.
00:57:48Ivory soap.
00:57:59Ivory soap.
00:58:03Ivory soap.
00:58:05I feel very well.
00:58:06I feel very well.
00:58:07I feel very well.
00:58:07I feel very well.
00:58:08I feel very well.
00:58:08I feel very well.
00:58:09I feel very well.
00:58:09I feel very well.
00:58:10I feel very well.
00:58:11I feel very well.
00:58:11I feel very well.
00:58:12I feel very well.
00:58:12I feel very well.
00:58:13I feel very well.
00:58:13I feel very well.
00:58:14I feel very well.
00:58:14I feel very well.
00:58:15I feel very well.
00:58:15I feel very well.
00:58:16I feel very well.
00:58:16I feel very well.
00:58:17I feel very well.
00:58:18I feel very well.
00:58:19I feel very well.
00:58:20I feel very well.
00:58:21I feel very well.
00:58:22I feel very well.
00:58:23I feel very well.
00:58:24I feel very well.
00:58:25I feel very well.
00:58:26I feel very well.
00:58:27General, okay, look, this is driving me crazy.
00:58:44I got a room full of NASA bullshit that just makes me more sure certain what caused the
00:58:48explosion, the cold.
00:58:50Okay, we got a guy who agrees with us.
00:58:53He gets shoved off the inquiry.
00:58:54We both know why, but none of it answers.
00:58:58There's a logic thing here that I'm just not getting.
00:59:00It's about what is at the heart of this thing.
00:59:04Why did NASA need to launch so bad?
00:59:08Okay, stop, Prof.
00:59:09I can't answer this here.
00:59:13I'll pick you up in the morning, 8.15, and bring full ID.
00:59:19Okay, good night.
00:59:21Good night.
00:59:27Where are we going?
00:59:44We're going to the Pentagon.
00:59:46Come.
00:59:55It's okay.
00:59:57Good night.
00:59:58We're all right.
00:59:58What is there?
00:59:59Oh, aper?
01:00:03Here's your station.
01:00:05How much are you leaving?
01:00:05I know.
01:00:07I know.
01:00:08I know.
01:00:08I know.
01:00:09I love you.
01:00:09I know.
01:00:10I know.
01:00:11I know.
01:00:12I know.
01:00:12Thank you, Captain.
01:00:25Thank you, Sergeant.
01:00:26Stand by outside.
01:00:28Prof, why don't you grab a seat down here?
01:00:33Right there.
01:00:41NASA.
01:00:42The agency of the United States government responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research.
01:00:50Note the word civilian in there.
01:00:54The projected cost in U.S. dollars of running the space program.
01:00:58The actual cost. I mean, I get it.
01:01:00And knowing this is unsustainable, NASA needs to prove itself, needs to bolster its purpose over and above civilian scientific research and discovery, okay?
01:01:09So park that for a moment.
01:01:10The Air Force, meanwhile, wants to upgrade Titan, an efficient fleet of unmanned rockets to deploy spy satellites into space.
01:01:20Paranoia.
01:01:21Okay, whatever you civilians are told, we are still deep in the Cold War.
01:01:25What's it got to do with NASA?
01:01:27NASA approaches Congress with a deal.
01:01:29That seems to make great economic sense that the government can stop funding Titan and instead divert the money to NASA and the shuttle becomes a sole access into space.
01:01:39NASA knocks out the Air Force and gets a funding boost?
01:01:43Exactly. Yeah.
01:01:44And the shuttle secures its raison d'etre.
01:01:48Carrying spy satellites?
01:01:50And NASA convinced Congress that by 1986 they'd be able to launch twice a month, every month.
01:01:58And on each of these flights, payload will be made available to the Department of Defense.
01:02:08Titan was my project.
01:02:10But NASA reneges on its obligation.
01:02:14And instead of giving DOD priority, they started taking senators up there in just PR stunt after PR stunt.
01:02:22And then launches start getting canceled.
01:02:25The press is beginning to notice.
01:02:26Congress is getting jumpy.
01:02:28Yeah, yeah.
01:02:28And the administration is asking questions.
01:02:31And then last December, the launch is delayed six times.
01:02:35And remember, NASA had promised Congress launch at any time, under any conditions.
01:02:39And then January 28th...
01:02:41January 28th launch.
01:02:45It's cold.
01:02:48It's very cold.
01:02:50And NASA feels under extreme pressure.
01:02:56They took the risk.
01:02:59They took the risk.
01:03:03And why did you tell me all this?
01:03:07Do you wish you didn't know?
01:03:10Downstairs, you made me sign the classified information thing.
01:03:13That's right.
01:03:16So, what's going on, Tina?
01:03:18I mean...
01:03:20You got me trapped.
01:03:21I can't spill any of this crap.
01:03:24If it would jeopardize national security, the Soviets would know.
01:03:28You guys can't launch a damn thing in cold weather.
01:03:34You've been playing me the whole time.
01:03:36From the beginning.
01:03:37That weird thing in the garage.
01:03:38With the carburetor.
01:03:41With the carburetor.
01:03:41The carburetor.
01:03:42And the O-ring.
01:03:43And the cold.
01:03:44I was supposed to take a hint.
01:03:46What is this?
01:03:46Some kind of game to you?
01:03:47No, it was a nudge.
01:03:50I heard about the O-ring by an astronaut friend of mine who was tipped off in secret by a NASA engineer.
01:03:55This astronaut's career has to be protected.
01:03:58I had to let you get there on your own, prof.
01:04:00Prof, don't prof me.
01:04:02You don't play me.
01:04:02You don't screw around with me.
01:04:04No, listen to me.
01:04:05And you'll understand why I'm telling you.
01:04:07I can't do anything with it.
01:04:08That's the point.
01:04:10Don't ever tell me anything.
01:04:11I can't open my mouth and blab to the whole world.
01:04:16I gotta...
01:04:17I gotta get out of here.
01:04:20Just listen.
01:04:26Richard.
01:04:28No one plays me.
01:04:29What is this?
01:04:29You check six?
01:04:31Remember, I told you that only you are independent.
01:04:34on this commission.
01:04:35Do others on the commission?
01:04:38Do they know stuff?
01:04:40Everyone knows some or all, but they're all bound.
01:04:44It's Washington.
01:04:45What can be acknowledged?
01:04:46How?
01:04:47By whom?
01:04:48You go drag me into this?
01:04:49No, it's absolutely not.
01:04:50You're coming at it completely differently.
01:04:53I told you because I believe that you and only you can use what you have.
01:04:58You can use the science to cut through the bullshit to ensure that the real reason for those deaths gets out.
01:05:04But it's made completely clear to the public.
01:05:09NASA's forced to admit it and has to reform.
01:05:13I wish.
01:05:16Why can't people just say things the way they are?
01:05:20Because it's politics.
01:05:21It's dirty.
01:05:21But you can, you can drive through that.
01:05:24You can, what's the, what's the, what's the?
01:05:26I have your arm, please.
01:05:28Oh.
01:05:30What's going on?
01:05:31Oh.
01:05:32Oh.
01:05:33Oh.
01:05:35Oh.
01:05:36Dang it.
01:05:38Not now, not, not yet.
01:05:41Oh.
01:05:47Let's get a medic.
01:05:48You get a medic right now.
01:05:49Yes, sir.
01:05:49Let's get a medic.
01:06:19Let's get a medic.
01:06:32America is many things to many people.
01:06:53To a 17-year-old kid, it's the mulch shop on the corner.
01:06:57To Grandpa, it's the white porch.
01:06:59To your mother and her family, it's church.
01:07:05I'd like to make sure that all procedures were proper.
01:07:08This is the same process that was used in 24 successful shuttle launches, as well as previous moon landings.
01:07:14I know that all of the systems are based on the data up to January 27, right through the launch countdown until the liftoff.
01:07:21All those actions were proper.
01:07:23Do you believe you exercised good judgment on the evening before the launch regarding the temperature?
01:07:28Absolutely.
01:07:29I thought I'd drop these to the cleaners in the morning.
01:07:35Use ivory soap.
01:07:3899.4% pure.
01:07:41What?
01:07:42What'd you say?
01:07:43I was just that old ivory soap ad.
01:07:46Use ivory soap.
01:07:4799.4% pure.
01:07:50Forget about the cleaners.
01:07:52I got notes and stuff in the pockets.
01:07:55Sure.
01:07:56Yeah.
01:07:57Perhaps it's time to revisit the possibility that the shuttle was a victim of an act of sabotage or terrorism.
01:08:04NASA will present at Wednesday's televised television, along with members from Morton Thiokol.
01:08:09Both parties will detail...
01:08:11Only 99.4% you bastards!
01:08:15It is unclear whether we will ever have answers as to what caused this disaster.
01:08:21Gwen!
01:08:23Gwenette!
01:08:24What's the matter?
01:08:26What's the matter?
01:08:27Taco, what's wrong?
01:08:29What?
01:08:30I have to go back to Washington.
01:08:36Michelle, go back to bed.
01:08:37Go on.
01:08:37Go on.
01:08:37Back to bed.
01:08:38Sorry.
01:08:41You need to be here.
01:08:43You need to be taken care of.
01:08:45We can't come to Washington with you.
01:08:48She has school.
01:08:49She has no idea how seriously you are.
01:08:52I have to.
01:08:54People died.
01:08:55It will happen again if I don't.
01:08:57What have the weeks been for?
01:08:59I mean, you're the one who persuaded me.
01:09:01And you said it yourself.
01:09:03Let someone else do it.
01:09:05You can't...
01:09:05You don't have to carry on now.
01:09:09Nobody's got the right to ask that of you.
01:09:11I have no one asking me.
01:09:13I'm the one asking you.
01:09:23Okay.
01:09:27Okay.
01:09:29I just wanted...
01:09:31to have you to myself for as long as possible.
01:09:43Honey, will you help me?
01:09:48I've got to get it all down.
01:09:51My notes, everything I found out...
01:09:55got to be one hell of a paper.
01:09:56The original Tang and Cleaver's seal design
01:10:07failed to anticipate
01:10:09the enormous pressure
01:10:11caused by the burning propellant
01:10:14would cause the walls
01:10:16to bow outward
01:10:18a phenomenon known as joint rotation.
01:10:20Okay.
01:10:21Swell.
01:10:22My blood is freshly laundered.
01:10:24Dick, you know,
01:10:25the effects of the dialysis
01:10:27are certainly temporary.
01:10:28Yeah.
01:10:29Life is pretty temporary.
01:10:30Life is pretty temporary.
01:10:31Life is pretty temporary.
01:10:32Life is pretty temporary.
01:10:37You're listening to the drive time on WTVX with Steve McBrien.
01:10:53I've never really got you so...
01:10:55You are definitely our obsession on ten-a-row power play.
01:10:58You are definitely our obsession on ten-a-row power play.
01:11:03For all you folks in Washington, coming up next, Miami's sound machine.
01:11:13Dr. Fyter, can you comment on the progress of the commission?
01:11:17What's your take on the sabotage theory?
01:11:20I'm not at liberty to speak.
01:11:28Are you commissioned?
01:11:33Through there, sir.
01:11:37I'm sorry, sir, you can't go in there.
01:11:39Who says so?
01:11:40Not without a tie.
01:11:42Give me strength.
01:11:55Charles is going to look a lot more dirty.
01:11:58Good evening, gentlemen.
01:12:04My findings.
01:12:06Developed, processed, distilled.
01:12:09I've saved you the trouble of running them off in case the copy machine's broken.
01:12:15Hey, Bill, would you do the honors?
01:12:17Sure.
01:12:18It's all here.
01:12:20Right, Neil?
01:12:21Would you?
01:12:22Design flaws in the boosters.
01:12:26Management failure.
01:12:27A cold day.
01:12:31You're okay.
01:12:32I had the flu, but now it's flown.
01:12:34Why don't you just take this chair?
01:12:49And thank you for your fine, patient, methodical work over the last weeks.
01:12:55It's been a difficult period, especially for Dr. Feynman.
01:13:01Welcome back, doctor.
01:13:03And doctor, I'm sure that we'll want to include some of your new material in our final report.
01:13:09Please remember, this is a very important hearing.
01:13:12We're expecting a lot of press, and it will be televised, so please do be prompt.
01:13:19Thanks.
01:13:19Prof, it's happening again. Rogers is going to bury my work.
01:13:36Yeah, and I just got cornered outside by the press.
01:13:40Me too.
01:13:41I think they're ready to go with unproven.
01:13:45Yep, or a sniper on the grassy knoll.
01:13:50Yeah, I eat a lot of pickled beets.
01:13:52General, I'm in a damn pool we're going to go.
01:13:59Despite what you may think, I am pleased to see you back.
01:14:06General.
01:14:07Chairman.
01:14:08We have a major difficulty.
01:14:12The people who best understand the shuttle are the people giving evidence,
01:14:16but they have the most to lose by explaining it clearly.
01:14:19The public is simply mystified.
01:14:24Somehow, we need to penetrate the fog.
01:14:30Welcome back.
01:14:35We know what Marshall's strategy is going to be.
01:14:39Smokescreen.
01:14:40Manipulate the science.
01:14:42Yeah, they'll make it into a fuzz dazzle.
01:14:46That kills me.
01:14:49I have to go.
01:15:07Okay.
01:15:08I am fine.
01:15:14Neil.
01:15:14I've been meaning to ask you.
01:15:19Yes, Richard.
01:15:20Is this for a friend?
01:15:23An admirer?
01:15:25All right.
01:15:26Of course.
01:15:28Thanks so much, Neil.
01:15:30Sorry.
01:15:31Embarrassing, but...
01:15:32Anything for you, Richard.
01:15:33Good night.
01:15:35Take care of yourself.
01:15:35Yeah, you asked me for something, now I'm going to ask you for something.
01:15:41No, you picked me up a couple of weeks ago.
01:15:47Good morning.
01:15:48Good morning.
01:15:51That's my end of the deal.
01:15:53All right.
01:15:54Here's what I need from you.
01:15:56A hardware store.
01:15:57A hardware store?
01:15:58Why would a super important person want to...
01:16:01A general hardware store that opens early.
01:16:03I know a place.
01:16:04Okay.
01:16:15Get out of bed.
01:16:16The astronauts, men, will be seeking clarity on what precisely was the deaths of their loved ones.
01:16:30NASA witnesses will be actually...
01:16:32Where is it?
01:16:34Graham, make sure we have the section model of the SRB joined.
01:16:39I'll relay.
01:16:40We're good for time.
01:16:41Shh.
01:16:46Well, General, I guess this is it.
01:16:50Good luck.
01:16:57Yeah.
01:17:16Would the witnesses please rise?
01:17:31Do you swear that the testimony you will give before this commission will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
01:17:38So I hope you got it.
01:17:39I do.
01:17:40I do.
01:17:40Miss Boyd, did you have any apprehension that a delay in launch would reflect badly on you or NASA Marshal?
01:17:52No, not at all.
01:17:54My decision to proceed with the launches recommended by the Thiacal official was based solely on the data presented by Thiacal Engineering.
01:18:01And here comes the smoke.
01:18:03This is a chart right out of August 19th, and the thing of interest here is what we have seen in the O-rings.
01:18:09See, the fact is, before Challenger, we had seen no anomalous O-ring erosion for about a year.
01:18:16Mr. McDonald stated that he thought that what had been said was very important, that the secondary O-ring was in a position to seal during the time of blow-by.
01:18:32Sir, you interpreted Mr. McDonald's comment as a statement in favor of proceeding to launch.
01:18:39Yes, I certainly did, because Mr. McDonald was seated close by, and it was clearly a supportive comment.
01:18:44Mr. McDonald, I have a question.
01:18:46Can you remind me what NASA calculates the probability of shuttle failure to be?
01:18:55Failure meaning the loss of the vehicle and the deaths of the entire crew.
01:19:03Dr. Lovinger?
01:19:04Certainly.
01:19:05That would be one in ten, the power of five.
01:19:12Really?
01:19:14Would you explain that?
01:19:16Yes, that the probability of mission success is one hundred percent, minus epsilon.
01:19:22Epsilon, that's a pretty fancy word.
01:19:25Well, let's put all that you've said there into English.
01:19:29So that's, um, and that's one failure in every one hundred thousand flights.
01:19:34So you claim that the shuttle would fly every day for three hundred years before there would be a single failure.
01:19:40That's crazy.
01:19:41I mean, how would you ever even test that?
01:19:45NASA arrived at that figure because it was a manned flight.
01:19:48Because there were people on board, but that's not a scientific calculation.
01:19:52That's, that's a wish.
01:19:55And interesting that the figure is very different from that of NASA's own engineers.
01:20:00Based on their direct experience and observation of many known component problems,
01:20:05some of NASA's engineers calculate the probability of success as only ninety-nine point four percent.
01:20:12In other words, that's roughly one flight in every two hundred will fail.
01:20:18I think this would be an appropriate time to take a break.
01:20:40One in two hundred, wow.
01:20:43That's not what the astronauts are aware of.
01:20:45There's a potential disaster every three and a half years.
01:20:47It sure won't convince anybody.
01:20:49There's no proof.
01:20:49People don't get probability.
01:20:51It's mad.
01:20:53But maybe...
01:21:17The second joint test we did, the development of qualification motor test we did, as a basis for understanding what we could expect to happen on the joints.
01:21:21The second joint test we did, the development of qualification motor test we did, as a basis for understanding what we could expect to happen on the joints.
01:21:47Mr. Hardy.
01:21:48Mr. Hardy.
01:21:49Sir, sir.
01:21:50As we see, the temperature at which the O-rings would lose their integrity would be in the minus forty to fifty degree range.
01:21:58Minus forty to fifty degrees Fahrenheit, sir.
01:22:03Mr. Hardy.
01:22:04So they'd maintain their integrity down to eighty degrees below freezing?
01:22:08That is correct.
01:22:09Mr. Hardy.
01:22:10Please.
01:22:12Mr. Hardy.
01:22:13Mr. Hardy.
01:22:14Mr. Hardy.
01:22:15Please.
01:22:17산�ast.
01:22:18Dr. Hardy.
01:22:19These O-rings are supposed to expand to make a seal, is that correct?
01:22:27Mr. Hardy.
01:22:28Yes, sir.
01:22:29O.
01:22:30Dr. Hardy.
01:22:31To prove it.
01:22:32The people to understand.
01:22:33What if we take the O-rings out?
01:22:36To have them?
01:22:37Mr. Hardy.
01:22:38O alors.
01:22:39Dr. Hardy.
01:22:40Dr. Hardy.
01:22:42For the seal to work correctly, the O-ring has to be made of rubber,
01:22:49not something like lead, which when you squash it, it stays.
01:22:55Yes, sir.
01:22:57Now, if the O-ring weren't resilient for a second or two,
01:23:03that would be enough for a very dangerous situation,
01:23:06and that could likely occur at low temperatures.
01:23:08No, as Mr. Hardy has shown, they are effective down to minus 40 to 50 degrees.
01:23:16Well, then, I just have one comment for the gentleman that I have always believed
01:23:22that any scientific concept can be demonstrated to ordinary people,
01:23:27people with no specialist knowledge or even much scientific education.
01:23:32Go pilot to pilot. Not yet. Just wait.
01:23:34What?
01:23:36All right. Okay, go.
01:23:38See, I took some of this stuff from your seal,
01:23:48and I put it in nothing more than ice water.
01:23:55And I discover that if you put it under pressure for a while
01:24:09and then undo it,
01:24:19it doesn't stretch back.
01:24:23It stops at the same dimension.
01:24:27In other words, for a second or two,
01:24:29at least, and more seconds than that.
01:24:33There is no resilience in this particular material at the temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit,
01:24:41the temperature of a cold soda.
01:24:43I think that has some significance for our problem.
01:24:49Whatever the eventual commission report, I will be writing up my own independent appendix with all my findings,
01:25:15all the design, the engineering, and management problems, which I will be handing to the president myself.
01:25:23How much did NASA know about the effect of the cold, Dr. Feynman?
01:25:26Look, ask him.
01:25:28Well, it was a very dramatic day.
01:25:29And that's usually the case with...
01:25:31Let us make recommendations to ensure that NASA officials deal in a world of reality,
01:25:39understanding technological weaknesses and imperfections well enough to be actively trying to eliminate them.
01:25:50NASA owes it to the citizens from whom it asks support to be frank, honest, and informative.
01:25:57For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations.
01:26:02For nature cannot be fooled.
01:26:08Dr. Keel, please.
01:26:13And, Mr. President, this appendix has been prepared by Professor Feynman.
01:26:21By the way, I think I figured out who was your source.
01:26:24You said this astronaut, this astronaut.
01:26:25If he was a guy, you would have said he.
01:26:26It's okay.
01:26:27I'm gonna keep stumbling.
01:26:28You said this astronaut, this astronaut.
01:26:29If he was a guy, you would have said he.
01:26:30It's okay.
01:26:31You keep stumbling.
01:26:32You ever fancy a ride in that old Buick?
01:26:33Yeah.
01:26:34The weather's warm.
01:26:35And it would have to happen pretty soon.
01:26:40I'm sorry this is taking your time.
01:26:45I'm not sorry.
01:26:46I would have been tremendously sorry if we lost.
01:26:47But as it is, it was...
01:26:48What a good use of science.
01:26:49It's a good use of science.
01:26:50I'm okay.
01:26:51I'm okay.
01:26:52I'm okay with it.
01:26:53I guess there is a kind of afterlife.
01:26:54The few bits and the...
01:26:55the...
01:26:56the...
01:26:57the...
01:26:58the...
01:26:59the...
01:27:00the weather's warm.
01:27:01The weather's warm.
01:27:02And it would have to happen pretty soon.
01:27:04I'm sorry this is taking your time.
01:27:05I'm not sorry.
01:27:06I would have been tremendously sorry if we lost.
01:27:07But as it is, it was...
01:27:09What a good use of science.
01:27:10It's a good use of science.
01:27:12I'm okay.
01:27:15I'm okay with it.
01:27:18I guess there is a kind of afterlife.
01:27:20The few bits and the pieces that we do...
01:27:22might get remembered.
01:27:27General.
01:27:31Fix your hair.
01:27:50The four pieces ofinhas.
01:27:52No...
01:27:53rete...
01:27:54The five lines.
01:27:55I was a dickhead.
01:27:56He played this alone.
01:27:57I was a kid.
01:27:59I had to go, well, I was a petit