As we remember, so shall Hollywood

[drwex]

Each year I try to mark the anniversary of the Challenger disaster.

This year we have a preview for an unsubtly named movie - https://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/the-challenger-disaster/ - that appears to center on the Thiokol engineers and NASA personnel who made the decision to launch the fatal flight. There's a clear line about "testifying before a Presidential Commission" and a lot of noise about "coverup". I'm not sure that's the right word, but I'll most likely see the movie.

Comments

[donnad]

They mentioned a "leak of information to the press," but did not say who it was, other than making accusation about who they suspected amongst their engineering team might have been "the leak".

[rmd]

Not to the press. And actually - I misremembered. It wasn't Feynman, it was an Air Forge general who was on the commission.
While walking along, not looking down and not saying a thing, Ride slipped him a NASA document on O-ring rigidity vs temperature. He kept this fact a secret until after she died, and then told the story as part of the Popular Mechanics oral history article. He talked to Feynman about O-rings, and that led to his excellent icewater demo.

[donnad]

Well, it was a dramatization, I'm sure they took liberties.

[rmd]

Oh, I'm quite sure. I just find the history of it all fascinating. [nerd-alert!]