"The Challenger Disaster" airing November 16th at 9PM

[JimOman]

I thought this movie was absolutely superb. I watched in twice last night and am watching it again with my wife this week- I'm almost as big a fan of Feynman as I am the Shuttle.

I don't think that the point of the movie was to be accurate in all visual representations but rather tell the story of the inquiry as well as the last days of Feynman. Nit-picking about not being 100% visually accurate is missing the whole point of the movie.

As for the KSC/Marshall thing, its easy to miss but they did mention that they were at "KSC" in one SRB scene and referenced "The Cape" in another, so they didn't portray the SRBs as being assembled at MSFC.

At one point, Feynman is inspecting a SRB on a scaffold and asked if they where built there. The SRB guy with him said something about that they "are built at Thiokol in Utah and train-ed in to us at the Cape in sections". I'm paraphrasing that, clearly.

Yes, there were liberties, but that is the only way to fit such a big story into an hour and forty minutes.

Jim

[elmarko]

There is an obvious and glaring difference in quality between television programming originating on the right side of the Atlantic vs. the left. Well worth the watching in this case. It was interesting to see an orbiter being examined in "1986" to be sporting the blue NASA meatball on the wing.

I honestly don't think it's that simple. I think it depends on the channel, on the type of programme, on whether it's pay TV vs free networks, etc. There are things Britain does well, and there are things the US does well.

[Hog]

It's on Discovery Canada Sunday Nov 24 at 2000hrs EST.  Not 100% sure if it has aired up here yet.  Glad I didnt miss it.

[robertross]

It's on Discovery Canada Sunday Nov 24 at 2000hrs EST.  Not 100% sure if it has aired up here yet.  Glad I didnt miss it.

I watched most of it tonight. Had competition with the Grey Cup (Canadian equivalent of the Superbowl), and Doctor WHo's 50th anniversary shows.

Quite intriguing. Some good, some bad. Mostly disturbing. Considering the outcome of Columbia, and the report afterwards, it makes me kind of sick.

[Avron]

It's on Discovery Canada Sunday Nov 24 at 2000hrs EST.  Not 100% sure if it has aired up here yet.  Glad I didnt miss it.

I watched most of it tonight. Had competition with the Grey Cup (Canadian equivalent of the Superbowl), and Doctor WHo's 50th anniversary shows.

Quite intriguing. Some good, some bad. Mostly disturbing. Considering the outcome of Columbia, and the report afterwards, it makes me kind of sick.

When Billions are involved the risk tolerance increases. The people according to that show who made the call to launch are the same people that ok'd foam falling of the tank. Its like watching JFK, cover-ups, its amazing the awesome job to de-fraud the people.. and the people don't stand up and say no..  great show .. I so remember the disaster and investigation

[rdale]

Its like watching JFK, cover-ups, its amazing the awesome job to de-fraud the people.. and the people don't stand up and say no.

No, it's not like that at all. Had JFK been John Q Smith of Dallas, TX the court case would have been open and shut and Oswald would have been convicted in a three day trial. I'm not sure what similarities you see? But even whatever they are, they are probably WAY off topic

[Rocket Science]

Unless I missed it, I would have like to have seen some mention of the late Roger Boisjoly...

http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/2012/02/06/roger-boisjoly-challenger-disaster-whistleblower-dies-73/

[rdale]

He wasn't a player in the movie as it really intended to focus on Feynman.

[Rocket Science]

He wasn't a player in the movie as it really intended to focus on Feynman.

I watched a film titled “The Challenger Disaster”, you must have been watching “The Feynman Storey”... Ladies and Gentlemen “The ever petulant Mr. Dale”...

[rdale]

I watched a film titled “The Challenger Disaster”, you must have been watching “The Feynman Storey”.

If you get a chance, read the first post of this thread again.

Apology accepted, but I don't imagine this is the last time you'll make a fool of yourself trying to make a meaningless point

[Herb Schaltegger]

I watched a film titled “The Challenger Disaster”, you must have been watching “The Feynman Storey”.

If you get a chance, read the first post of this thread again.

Apology accepted, but I don't imagine this is the last time you'll make a fool of yourself trying to make a meaningless point

And unless he was watching a show about buildings and construction, he misspelled "Story."

[Rocket Science]

I watched a film titled “The Challenger Disaster”, you must have been watching “The Feynman Storey”.

If you get a chance, read the first post of this thread again.

Apology accepted, but I don't imagine this is the last time you'll make a fool of yourself trying to make a meaningless point

It could have been mentioned in the closing slides of the film with the others... If showing respect to man of integrity such as the late Roger Boisjoly makes me one, I’m honored to be “this kind of fool”.

“If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.”
― Epictetus

[TheMadCap]

I watched it a few weeks ago, haven't posted on it, or anything for that matter, in quite some time.

The acting was very, very good. William Hurt was quite believable as Feynmen, he even looked the part.  The production was well done, the settings were all believable for mid 1980's. A very nice job!

To answer the question posed earlier, yes, Allan McDonald did, in fact, stand up in front of the Commission to shed light on the nature of the Meeting of January 27th. Although MT did "throw him off" the SRB commitee, he did testify to the commission later, as referenced in his autobiography, which is exceptional. He claims in his autobiography, "Truth, Lies, and O-Rings", that Larry Mulloy remarked before that second appearance before the commission (I believe it was the one where Feynmen made his demonstration, but am not sure) that "MSFC" would "be ok, as long as McDonald doesn't throw another turd on the table".

All in all, a good movie, it didn't really shed any new light on anything that most of us around here didn't already know. The only thing I learned that I didn't know before was that Sally Ride was General Kutyna's insided source, although this just confirmed the speculation that has been around for many years.

On a completely different tangent, it was certainly better than the ridiculous "Seconds From Disaster" episode on Challenger where that disaster expert, James Chiles, is protrayed as "figuring out" the real reason the shuttle made it off the pad. I wonder if Mr. Chiles knew that the producers of the show planned to protray it as such, and if so, if he would have agreed to take part. He has written a few well reviewed books on engineering disasters, and seems to be quite well respected, as far as I can tell. I doubt he had any hand in the false portrayal represented in that program. I wonder if anyone else has any comments on this?

[JAFO]

The only thing I learned that I didn't know before was that Sally Ride was General Kutyna's insided source, although this just confirmed the speculation that has been around for many years.

Wonder if that was really true, or just more "historical fiction" for the movie?

[rdale]

Since it was listed during the credits, when they shared other real items, I'd take it as valid.

[collectSPACE]

Wonder if that was really true, or just more "historical fiction" for the movie?

Dan Parry was the researcher for the film, and in his blog for the BBC, he says he consulted directly with Kutyna.

About Ride, Kutyna says: "It's a story that embroiled McDonald and also astronaut Sally Ride – which we only came to realise following her passing in July last year – as hopefully you’ll come to discover for yourself, once you see the film."

[Hog]

Good movie for sure. I was able to watch it again yesterday.  In the movie it is portrayed that Mr Feynemann was present for an SSME test.  He sure didnt have nice things to say about the vibrations below 65% rated thrust.

IMO A must see for any Space Shuttle fan.  The frustrations that those Thiokol Engineers must have felt, good lord.

I wonder if the the Challenger and Columbia incidents never happened, if Shuttle would be flying today?  From the sounds of it, there was no urgency at upper levels of Thiokol for the O-ring issue.  It took this incident for the 3 ring redesign.  Seems rediculous to transport segments by rail from Utah.

Columbia, of course hindsight is perfect, but damn, that foamstrike was hard.  It's so simple in theory, and Dr Musgrave agrees, you schedule a walk and check for damage.

Without these incidents we wouldnt have had 3 ring boosters, LCLV with total SSME failure before booster sep, bailout procedure and OBSS and RPM etc etc.  I really miss Shuttle. I hope that SLS fills the gap but that's just me being selfish.  Like the US SLS program is there to fill my Shuttle-seperation anxiety.

[AS-503]

Good movie for sure. I was able to watch it again yesterday.  In the movie it is portrayed that Mr Feynemann was present for an SSME test.  He sure didnt have nice things to say about the vibrations below 65% rated thrust.

IMO A must see for any Space Shuttle fan.  The frustrations that those Thiokol Engineers must have felt, good lord.

I wonder if the the Challenger and Columbia incidents never happened, if Shuttle would be flying today?  From the sounds of it, there was no urgency at upper levels of Thiokol for the O-ring issue.  It took this incident for the 3 ring redesign.  Seems rediculous to transport segments by rail from Utah.

Columbia, of course hindsight is perfect, but damn, that foamstrike was hard.  It's so simple in theory, and Dr Musgrave agrees, you schedule a walk and check for damage.

Without these incidents we wouldnt have had 3 ring boosters, LCLV with total SSME failure before booster sep, bailout procedure and OBSS and RPM etc etc.  I really miss Shuttle. I hope that SLS fills the gap but that's just me being selfish.  Like the US SLS program is there to fill my Shuttle-seperation anxiety.

Segementation of the booster was required for both manufacturing and transportation (rail tunnels (dimensions) and bridges (total weight per segment))

STS-51-C flew one year before Challenger and had significant o-ring blow-by and erosion. Thiokol were already working on a joint redesign before Challenger. Thiokol also knew there was blow-by (through joint rotation) even on warm weather days. The redesign would have happened with or without the Challenger failure.

[JAFO]

Since it was listed during the credits, when they shared other real items, I'd take it as valid.

Wonder if that was really true, or just more "historical fiction" for the movie?

Dan Parry was the researcher for the film, and in his blog for the BBC, he says he consulted directly with Kutyna.

About Ride, Kutyna says: "It's a story that embroiled McDonald and also astronaut Sally Ride – which we only came to realise following her passing in July last year – as hopefully you’ll come to discover for yourself, once you see the film."

I didn't stay for the credits, thanks for the head's up. The post on the blog only whetted my curiosity for "The rest of the story".

[Hog]

Good movie for sure. I was able to watch it again yesterday.  In the movie it is portrayed that Mr Feynemann was present for an SSME test.  He sure didnt have nice things to say about the vibrations below 65% rated thrust.

IMO A must see for any Space Shuttle fan.  The frustrations that those Thiokol Engineers must have felt, good lord.

I wonder if the the Challenger and Columbia incidents never happened, if Shuttle would be flying today?  From the sounds of it, there was no urgency at upper levels of Thiokol for the O-ring issue.  It took this incident for the 3 ring redesign.  Seems rediculous to transport segments by rail from Utah.

Columbia, of course hindsight is perfect, but damn, that foamstrike was hard.  It's so simple in theory, and Dr Musgrave agrees, you schedule a walk and check for damage.

Without these incidents we wouldnt have had 3 ring boosters, LCLV with total SSME failure before booster sep, bailout procedure and OBSS and RPM etc etc.  I really miss Shuttle. I hope that SLS fills the gap but that's just me being selfish.  Like the US SLS program is there to fill my Shuttle-seperation anxiety.

Segementation of the booster was required for both manufacturing and transportation (rail tunnels (dimensions) and bridges (total weight per segment))

STS-51-C flew one year before Challenger and had significant o-ring blow-by and erosion. Thiokol were already working on a joint redesign before Challenger. Thiokol also knew there was blow-by (through joint rotation) even on warm weather days. The redesign would have happened with or without the Challenger failure.

Thats good to know, I remember the discussion about the impingement on the 2nd ring from a whole year before STS 51-L.  Any idea when the new design would have been enacted? Surely the incident sped up the redesign.

In this day and age, I find it hard to believe that there isnt a way to fill an SRB built in 1 piece.  Move your STS SRB refurb plant to Florida, doesnt make logustical sense to ship across the country. Although I do realize that SLC-6 was on the table for Polar flights, so Utah made more sense in that respect.
I can believe that it was deemed not economically viable to make a solid SRB.
Now SLS will use a 5 segment SRB.

I never thought about it before, but during the "twang"movement, those joints moved while the skirts on the pad did not.  Maybe the joints were needed.  I also just noticed that at around the 70 second mark, the SRB's thrust is ramping up along with or close to the SSME's going back up to 104%.

What a complex, yet amazing system.  The people power used to harness physics involved is amazing.