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Richard Feynman personally owned hand-edited draft copy of ''Appendix F: Personal Observations on the Reliability of the Shuttle'', Feynman's powerful minority report regarding the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Feynman famously issued this report, deeply critical of NASA's management, in contrast to the more accommodating Rogers Commission report that sought to shore up public confidence in NASA. Knowing that he only had months to live when he accepted the appointment to the Commission, Feynman used his stature to put forth the position that NASA executives deeply underestimated the danger of space travel ''to the point of fantasy'', and ignored warnings of faulty design in the O-rings. Feynman wouldn't live to see the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, with the investigation into that disaster sadly confirming Feynman's critique of decision making and risk tolerance at NASA.
This very early 11pp. draft of the report also includes a cover letter to ''Al'', likely executive director Alton Keel, Jr. In this letter, Feynman writes, ''Here is some stuff I wrote. I don't know if any of it is suitable for the report as is. But some of the information can guide others a bit, perhaps...'' On this page, Feynman handwrites in pencil, ''P.S. I have the IBM PC FLOPPY DISKS with me so I can work on it.''
Feynman also draws arrows to several sections in this draft report, such as this statement, '''What is the cause of management's fantastic faith in the machinery?''' and also, ''the management of NASA exaggerates the reliability of their product, to the point of fantasy.'' The tone of Feynman's final report is present in this draft, with statements such as, ''In spite of these variations from case to case, officials behaved as if they understood it, giving apparently logical arguments to each other often depending on the 'success' of previous flights.'' In his conclusion he writes, ''In technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, or it will fail.'' Underneath this final statement, Feynman makes a note in all caps, ''(PERHAPS THIS IS TOO STRONG BUT IT IS A WORKING OUTLINE)''.
Feynman insisted that his minority report be included in the final Commission report, threatening to withdraw his name if it wasn't. William P. Rogers, Chairman of the Commission, finally relented and allowed for the report's inclusion, but not before calling Feynman ''a real pain''.
Entire document runs 12pp. and measures 8.5'' x 11'', stapled at top left. Horizontal fold at center, overall near fine condition. Document is Feynman's retained copy, and from the estate of Richard Feynman.
Richard Feynman Personally Owned Draft Copy of His Minority Report on the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster -- Early, Possibly First Draft with Feynman's Handwritten Notes
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