What was the name of the presidential commission that investigated the Challenger disaster?

The presidential commission that investigated the Challenger disaster was the Rogers Commission.

President Ronald Reagan established the commission after Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after liftoff on January 28, 1986. William P. Rogers, a former secretary of state and attorney general, chaired the panel. Its members also included astronaut Neil Armstrong, physicist Albert Wheelon, and test pilot Chuck Yeager.

The commission submitted its report to Reagan on June 9, 1986. It identified the immediate technical cause as the failure of rubber O-rings in a solid rocket booster field joint. Cold launch-day temperatures reduced the O-rings’ ability to seal properly, allowing hot gases to escape and damage the shuttle’s external tank. The report also criticized NASA’s management and launch decision-making.

Richard Feynman served on the commission and became one of its most prominent investigators. His appendix demonstrated the O-ring problem with a simple ice-water experiment. The Rogers Commission is distinct from the Warren Commission, which investigated John F. Kennedy’s assassination, and the 9/11 Commission, which examined the September 11 attacks.