While attending a meeting of T1D1.3 on Tuesday, January 28, 1986 at the "Park Place" Hotel in Boca Raton, we witnessed the demise of the Challenger and her crew.

As to the cause of the disaster, Dr. Richard P. Feynman, a member of the Rogers Commission which investigated the accident, had the final and authoritative word. This was contained in his unpublished appendix "F" to the Rogers Commission Report, still available on the NASA web site:
Appendix F - Personal observations on the reliability of the Shuttle..

His concluding words:

For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.

Sadly, history shows that we learned nothing from his analysis, as the faulty reasoning about safety that lead to the loss of the shuttle Columbia on Saturday, February 1, 2003 was nearly identical to the faulty reasoning which led to the loss of the Challenger 17 years earlier.

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www.bee-man.us

http://www.bee-man.us/poetry/challenger.html

It is very discouraging to see one's own poetry reproduced somewhere and labeled as "Author Unknown". Inevitably, that is what happens when people copy poems and redistribute them. Eventually the attribution to the author and the copyright notice is lost.

My only reward for writing this is the 15 milliseconds of fame I receive from having my name here. Don't deprive me of that.