Plot Synopsis

This is Science Channel's first original scripted movie. Based on the book, "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" by Richard Feynman. Chronicles the efforts of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Dr. Richard Feynman to uncover the cause of the 1986 Challenger Space Shuttle explosion. In order to get to the truth, he has to deftly navigate the many vested interests represented on the Rogers Commission investigating the disaster, while quickly learning everything about the vast complexity of the space shuttle. William Robert Graham, NASA's acting administrator, chose Feynman to lend his skills to the commission. Reluctant to participate, he follows his scientific instincts during the investigation, unafraid of raising questions in the face of pressure from several commission members. With unwavering persistence, he employs exceptional integrity and scientific logic to determine that two of the shuttle's O-rings failed during launch. In a famous televised hearing he demonstrates that the O-ring was not as pliable as previously thought by submerging a piece of the O-ring in a glass of ice water. At the investigation's conclusion, Feynman produces an essential report, "Appendix F - Personal Observations on the Reliability of the Shuttle", that is presented to President Reagan independent of the commission's report.