This is a memo dated July 31, 1985, from R. M. Boisjoly of Applied Mechanics to R. K. Lund, Vice President of Engineering, Morton Thiokol, Inc.
On January 28, 1986, at 11:30, A.M. just one minute after lift off, the Space Shuttle Challenger and its crew were destroyed in an explosion. Not long after the accident President Ronald Reagan ordered an independent commission to investigate. Roger Boisjoly, an employee at Morton Thiokol, Inc., worked on the team responsible for the development of the O-rings. He wrote this letter to Morton Thiokol’s Vice President of Engineering raising the possibility of a disastrous O-ring failure.
