1986年1月28日美东时间上午11时38分，美国航天飞机挑战者号在佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角肯尼迪航天中心点火升空1。仅73秒后，飞机发生剧烈爆炸，机上七名机组人员全部罹难1。其中包括被从全美11000多名应征教师中幸运选中参加太空任务的教师克里斯塔·麦考利夫1。
事故调查最终指向一个微小的零件——低温导致右侧固体火箭助推器接缝处的O型圈在低温下失效，高温燃气泄漏烧穿外储箱，最终引发灾难1。物理学家费曼在听证会上通过实验展示了橡胶在低温下如何变脆、失去弹性1，从而阐明了这一关键失效机制。
这场悲剧启发了经济学家迈克尔·克雷默的深入思考1。在哈佛大学博士期间，克雷默以此事故为基础，产生了O型圈经济增长理论1，用以解释经济生产中单点故障现象对整体增长的影响1。
On January 28, 1986, at 11:38 a.m. Eastern Time, the Space Shuttle Challenger lifted off from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida.1 Just 73 seconds into the flight, the spacecraft experienced a catastrophic explosion, killing all seven crew members aboard.1 Among the victims was Christa McAuliffe, a teacher selected from more than 11,000 applicants across the United States to participate in the mission.1
The direct cause of the disaster was the failure of an O-ring seal in the right solid rocket booster's joint at low temperatures, which allowed hot gases to escape and burn through the external tank.1 During subsequent congressional hearings, physicist Richard Feynman demonstrated through experiments how rubber becomes brittle and loses its elasticity in cold conditions, illustrating the mechanism behind the failure.1
The tragedy would later inspire economist Michael Kremer to develop what became known as O-ring economic growth theory.1 While pursuing his doctorate at Harvard University, Kremer reflected on the Challenger disaster and formulated a theoretical framework to explain economic growth disparities by examining the consequences of single-point failures in economic production.1
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