The Challenger BBC2 @ 21.00

Squeaky the Squirrel

Historical drama starring william hurt as richard feynmam, physicist brought in to investigate the disaster.

Not a fan of hurt at all. Probably pass on it cuz of him.

DubOnHoliday

I can't say I enjoyed it as it was difficult to watch.
But I read a good few Richard Feynman books which were very good. His simple experiment during the press conference to show the problem with the O rings is something you never forget. He was a genius.

The Black Oil

I enjoyed it even though I don't really follow this subject. Maybe not top drawer drama, but still solid. You could really see how involved he became in things and how important the work was to him. It encouraged me to buy a few of his books, anyway.

Hotblack Desiato

I enjoyed it too although I suspect a few things were invented for the sake of drama.

Did Feynman really pile in early on on the SSME theory just because they 'vibrated a lot' and some turbopump blades had cracks? I doubt it. Every rocket motor ever made vibrates/oscillates (but if it gets out of hand, the rocket structure will fail before the engine will.) I doubt there's an aircraft in the sky that doesn't have a crack in it somewhere either. What matters is that inspections are regular and thorough and repairs/replacements are made if required before continued flight.

There were lots of troubles with SSMEs over the years, but in flight they were extremely reliable. The losses of Challenger and Columbia were caused by segmented SRBs and large wings with leading edges exposed to debris impact - which were unnecessary and fundamental flaws of the Shuttle design concept.

Depressing that many of the management failures which contributed to the loss of Challenger were still there when Columbia was suspected of debris damage, 'this can't fail because it's never failed before' attitude.

The glass of ice water thing did happen and it was a great visual way of communicating the cold o-ring issue to a lay audience. That was the mark of a brilliant teacher who Feynman was.

ps200306

Interesting program, but a couple of things about it really annoyed me. Feynman's temperament doesn't really gel with what we've seen of him in video footage and in his own books. Hurt doesn't even seem to attempt to do Feynman's strong and distinctive New York accent. Sally Ride, played by Eve Best, is too old! Ride was still on the right side of her mid-thirties for the Rogers commission. Here she is with Rogers, and Feynman in the background.



Good try, but the whole thing was a bit too theatrical and dramatic. (Ok, it was made for TV and not for a science lecture, so I'll shut up now).