Chapter 2 - NASA's Scandal

            The atmosphere of this room is quite boisterous but feels heavy. Even though the room is big enough- It could at least fit the two hundred people in it, but that didn't make the weight of the room just disappear. Both the main focus and those who are only media outlets.

            The room was dark, all light apart from the spotlights and the projector screenup there it's turned off. A tall figure with a flat face came, stepping lightly towards the center of the stage which of course was accompanied by the distinctive sound of cameras and flashes that hurt the eyes.

            The figure of a young woman in a black blazer is standing in the right corner. Her hand clasped mic hard enough, hoping she could stand up properly even though her legs were shaking. Not regret but quite nervous when she was appointed as the representative of all the press to ask Evan at this press conference.

            The young physicist looks very, very charming tonight. The hairstyle that deliberately displays her forehead, the less formal wear, plus the classic smile attached to his thin lips makes many people fascinated enough to almost forget what their purpose is in this room.

            Yes. This afternoon, after leaving his office, this tall man made a pretty crazy statement. The fact that the Challenger accident was a month ago - an accident that is a shocking scourge to the world, is the fault of the internals who made the rocket, not the fault of the crew.

            He rolled his gaze. Hundreds of people who were accompanied by many cameras as well as lightning, made him enter without realizing the flashback of his past which was quite bitter. He himself remembers, little Evan had also encountered adults who called themselves news announcers. Whether it's newspapers, magazines, radio, to news broadcasting stations. Little Evan at that time looked innocently, answering the many questions - most of which he did not understand - with honest answers without making it up.

            Little Evan was bombarded with questions after he had survived the tragedy that had befallen his family. Little Evan has been given social responsibility indirectly regarding the impression his father has had so far. Little Evan was indirectly given the impression that he would continue his family identity as a scientist to replace his father who died in a car accident at that time.

            At that moment he knew that he would live the same life as his father did. Living in the shadow of society because of discoveries that are thought to help mankind in their survival. That he would be a figure praised by many people if his invention was successful, but would be labeled a madman when the results of his hard work did not match the expectations of the public.

            Starting from there, little Evan saw the world as a spectator who was always watching his movements. He doesn't know what to do if he damages the good name his father has built so earnestly. But he also has limits. He is sometimes fed up with all the routines which of course move the same every day. Even repeated every hour. Because of that, he sometimes does crazy things, which maybe other people will not be willing to do it, just to feel that he still belongs to himself. That what he does is his will, although it must be covered by scientific purpose reasons.

            "So you mean, the NASA manager as well as Morthon Thiokol's management was guilty of the exploding challenger spacecraft a few months ago?"

            Evan cleared his throat softly. Stretched out his hand with gesture to have the young woman sit down while he explained. "Yes" He drank the mineral water first before continuing. “The NASA manager has known that he knew about contractor Morton Thiokol that the SRB design contained flaws that could potentially cause disaster in the O ring since 1977, when the project was just starting out. However, they failed to deal with it properly, also ignoring warnings from engineers about the dangers of launching posed by the low temperatures that morning."

            His fingers collided again with the hardness of the high quality teak wood with a definite rhythm. The index finger to the little finger clashed to produce a sound that could be heard clearly in the silence of the room as he tried to focus on the series of sentences that would come out of the blade of the young scientist's lips.

            "Can you explain why O ring that mentioned earlier could have caused the accident?" asked the young woman again

            "The launch was scheduled for three days in advance, but it was delayed because the weather was really, really bad. It was rescheduled the next day, but was postponed again due to problems with the exterior access hatch. One of the microswitch indicators is used to verify that the lock is not working. Then the bolts are stripped preventing the closeout crew from removing the fixture shut off from the orbiter. When the fixture was finally finished, the crosswinds at the Shuttle Landing Facilities exceeded the limit so they were canceled again."

            "With various damages, it can be said that the aircraft is not ready to be launched. However, the next day, the plane was again scheduled to launch. While the weather is extremely cold, the temperature is close to -1 degree centigrade, that is, the minimum temperature permitted for launch. Engineers have discussed the weather, voiced concerns and concerns, but the plane was launched nonetheless." He continued.

            "When launched, the temperature turned out to be -8 degrees centigrade, greatly exceeding the resistance of the ring which turned out to be only around 4 degrees centigrade, it made the O ring freeze, harden, then burst and made the rocket fuel burst into the external tank and ignited a fire, which ended the plane shattered to pieces within a few seconds of launch hour "

            A breath sounded around him. Typical voice typing immediately sounded faster. Everyone races to voice the questions in their head without waiting for the spokesperson to speak again. The recording of him speaking earlier was immediately widespread in cyberspace, live immediately, triggering ordinary people to move to spread from one entity to another, then chaos about the government's response to what they witnessed earlier.. Since the launch of the aircraft was funded and approved by the government, this put the country in quite a shock at the time.

            Just now Evan was about to start speaking again, the crowd of men in uniforms with rifles entered the press conference area. Handing out a piece of paper that he hadn't even had time to read, but his arms were perfectly handcuffed.

            Again and again her lips curved into a knot. Many scenarios that were created indirectly in his brain during his daily life began to happen one by one. Of course, when juxtaposed with his crazy behavior during his lifetime, this arrest incident is one thing that is very likely to happen. But the man was a little unexpected that he would be caught in the middle of himself delivering important news.

            The reporters who were there turned their heads skeptically. Dozens of questions such as whether he was detained for speaking frankly, whether he was detained just for revealing facts were heard.They flocked to turn around and voiced their thoughts to the apparatus not far from there. The room became very, very chaotic, one of the authorities even had to shoot hot lead as a sign that they had to be quiet or something they didn't want would happen.

            The police were calm. Say Miranda Rules while saying that “You are arrested on charges of theft of Einstein's brain, destroying the tomb, destroying the victim's limbs by coating wax so that his brain remains perfectly shaped. Then perform surgery without family consent for personal gain.” Surprised the press but they are happy at the same time cause have material to report.