FAQ About Richard Feynman
How did Richard Feynman contribute to the investigation of the Challenger disaster?
Richard Feynman was a member of the Rogers Commission, the panel that investigated the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. His most famous contribution was demonstrating how the shuttle's O-rings, used to seal joints in the booster rockets, became brittle and failed in cold temperatures. He famously illustrated this problem during a televised hearing by immersing an O-ring sample in ice water, showing its loss of flexibility and thereby pinpointing a critical factor in the disaster.
