Bulky, bald and tall, Boisjoly was an imposing figure, especially when armed with data. He found disturbing the data he reviewed about the booster rockets that would lift Challenger into space. Six months before the Challenger explosion, he predicted “a catastrophe of the highest order” involving “loss of human life” in a memo to managers at Thiokol.
The problem, Boisjoly wrote, was the elastic seals at the joints of the multi-stage booster rockets. They tended to stiffen and unseal in cold weather and NASA’s ambitious shuttle launch schedule included winter lift-offs with risky temperatures, even in Florida.
As a young partner in a large law firm, I remember the day that I met Roger and heard his story about what happened in the early morning hours before the launch. I was struck by how despondent he was that he could not get those in control to stop the launch. He said after he lost the fight he went to the bathroom and threw up because he knew what was going to happen. I am glad that he found peace about this before he died.
The Challenger disaster was the defining traumatic event of my teen years. So thanks for posting this. Its good to know that this good man went on to impact many lives. The temptation to just curl up in a corner somewhere must have been powerful.
I watched two documentaries the last week of January that featured interviews with him telling of the events of his investigation of the O-rings and his efforts to stop the launch. As they say in the Space Program, Godspeed, Mr. Boisjoly