Vignette 9: O-ring in ice water

[wcg]

On the morning of February 11th, 1986, at a meeting of the Presidential Commission investigating the loss of space shuttle Challenger in Washington DC, Professor Richard P. Feynman obtained a piece of o-ring that had been provided to the commission by Morton-Thiokol, the makers of the solid rocket boosters used to launch the shuttle. Compressing

Comments

[faxpaladin]

Just out of curiosity, is that Gen. Kutyna next to Feynman in the news video?

I can't say I'm terribly impressed by the actor playing Feynman in the reenactment. I seem to recall that Alan Alda was working on a one-man show about Feynman. I wonder what became of that?

[wcg]

Yes, that's General Kutyna.

[siliconshaman]

I watch and read those... then look at the design for the Aries series...
and wonder if some of them have been paying attention.

[wcg]

Yeah. I hear ya.

[siliconshaman]

I sort of hope that the junk those designs and go with the Jupiter Direct design instead. I mean, I'm no rocket scientist, but even I can see that a rocket powered pogo-stick isn't such a hot idea.

[wcg]

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! would be the book. Yeah, it's great stuff.

[dianavilliers]

IIRC, the O-ring story is related in his second autobiography, What Do You Care What Other People Think, which is also well worth reading.

[tomtac]

God bless Feynmann. Not only did he help dig out the cause of the mechanical failure, -and- the problems within NASA's internal communications, but his writings on his time as a Commissioner reveals how the problem goes right to the top of the Washington power structure.

[wcg]

A-yup.

[lostwanderfound]

Damn. Just when I think that I can't get any more impressed with Feynman, you go and pull out this.

Earlier in the year, when I was having major thesis issues [1], I got myself a copy of Surely you're joking, Mr Feynman! to read as inspiration.

While that's a book that's always a fun read, I don't know if it served the intended purpose for me. When trying to convince yourself that you've got the required upstairs horsepower to play in the big league, scientifically speaking, using Feynman as a reference point can be a bit discouraging if approached in the wrong way; the man was extraordinary in so many ways.

[1] An inadequately pilot-tested experiment went wrong in a subtle but unmistakable way that eventually resulted in two months' worth of work going down the tubes. [2]

[2] Fortunately, however, a seriously sleep-deprived second half to the year allowed me design and run an improved version of the first experiment. This second attempt still didn't quite hit the target it was aimed at (unsurprising; no one else has ever hit it

[wcg]

My experience is that the experiments that don't quite go as expected hold the most promise. Have you published your results yet?

As for Feynman, yeah, he's a very high standard. But damn, he's a good one. You should also read about John Bardeen, who I wrote about a few days ago.

[lostwanderfound]

Have you published your results yet?

The thesis is submitted; I don't know if I'll bother trying to get them published more widely.

You should also read about John Bardeen, who I wrote about a few days ago.

Ooh, nifty. In return: are you familiar with the Hole in the Ground telescope [1]? It's still there, buried with viciously ironic appropriateness underneath a football field...

(piccies an' things of the H.I.T.G. scope over here, too)

[1] Short version: a couple of 1950's geeks, annoyed by their bosses' failure to fund a decent telescope, decide to build one themselves. However, due to their non-existent funding, their telescope is constructed primarily with shovels and chicken wire...and yet still manages to be good enough to discover Sagittarius A (aka the Galactic equivalent of Greenwich). Seriously hands-on science.

[wcg]

I hadn't known that story. Thank you! It's delightful. I'm reminded somewhat of Jocelyn Bell's radio telescope that she used to discover pulsars. Similar low tech.