Seventy Two Seconds

[The primary cause of the 1986 space shuttle disaster was an O-ring of a design that hadn’t been tested below fifty degrees. But hey... it’s Florida, right? That fateful night before the launch, the temperature went through the floor. That O-ring became brittle, leading to its subsequent failure. Perversely, when the O-ring first failed the solid fuel blocked the now open Joint. Alas a strong side wind caused the fuel to shift allowing the leak which led to the disaster that followed. NASA managers had been advised in 1977 about the possibility of calamitous flaws developing in the O-rings at low temperature, but little was done. On the morning of the launch NASA managers were advised of extremely low temperatures in the night preceding the launch. Launch was delayed by two hours to allow ice to melt but, even at launch, temperatures were below the O-ring’s tested range. The launch was allowed to progress in spite of these warnings.] [This poem borrows some content from my poem ‘No God Of Mine’.] _______________ Set for its tenth foray up into space Challenger writ upon stark carapace For every contingency, no expense thrifty And sometimes the mercury drops below fifty Brittle components barely discussed But what dragged the mercury into the dust Seven the number of highly trained crew Count seventy two, then the whole thing blew A Florida chill and an Atlantic gust Precipitation; ash, fire and dust Devilish snowflakes that flutter and dance Through somebody’s devil-may-care negligence Seek it and tag it and bag it all up The stuff that came down from what had gone up Forensic inspections shall raise questions that Forensic Inspectors call smelling a rat Too cold the night for an untested o-ring Not really news when people are knowing A spacecraft that’s barely defrosted of ice Just send her up, Lads, that’ll be nice _______________