Sell or Auction your Richard Feynman Autograph for up to $16,800 or More at Nate D. Sanders Auctions

FREE ESTIMATE. To buy, auction, sell or consign your Richard Feynman autograph that is for sale, please email your description and photos to [email protected] of Nate D. Sanders Auctions (http://www.NateDSanders.com).

Here are some items we have sold in the past:

Richard Feynman Handwritten Diary-Style Document, Trying to Understand the Faulty Decision Making at NASA After the Challenger Disaster — “…the ‘fairyland’ feeling I get reading NASA reports…”

Richard Feynman handwritten manuscript, composed while Feynman served on the Rogers Commission to investigate the cause of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Feynman appears to try to understand the faulty decision making at NASA and Morton-Thikol that led to the disaster, writing free association on these two pages in a fascinating diary-style document. Feynman dates the document as “Sunday Mar 29, 1985″, however 29 March doesn’t fall on a Sunday in either 1985 or 1986, so it’s unclear when the document was written, although it seems to be from the time of the Rogers Commission. Two page document on a single sheet measures 8.375″ x 11”. Near fine condition. From the estate of Richard Feynman. Sold for $16,800.

Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman & the Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-51-L) Disaster: “Notes on Conference Call with Kutyna & Titan People” Dated February 10 [1986]. Two pages in green ink on 5″ x 8″ plain white notepaper. He quickly jots down various key words and phrases as they spoke, such as: “Titan, tighter tolerance, not as much joint rotation, insulation joint, no pressure check.”, “General Thermal sensitivity, This flight: any loads ? beyond norm”, “Analysis O-rings to determine differential of expansion on joints at O rings.”, “Any change in ZnCrO4 [zinc chromate] battery compound. Tested characteristics of ZnCrO4 at 51-L Temp.”, etc. A very important group of notes regarding a conversation held between the two men who discovered the real cause of the Challenger disaster. Very fine. General Donald J. Kutyna, an Air Force General, manager of the Department of Defense Space Shuttle program, and heavily involved with Titan and Atlas space boosters, was a friend and ally of Feynman’s on the Challenger commission. Kutyna was a friend of Sally Ride’s (also a commission member); she handed him (in secret) a NASA document regarding the resiliency of O-rings as a function of temperature. “I wondered how I could introduce this information Sally had given me. So I had Feynman at my house for dinner. I have a 1973 Opel GT, a really cute car. We went out to the garage, and I’m bragging about the car, but he could care less about cars. I had taken the carburetor out. And Feynman said, ‘What’s this?’ And I said, ‘Oh, just a carburetor. I’m cleaning it.’ Then I said, ‘Professor, these carburetors have O-rings in them. And when it gets cold, they leak. Do you suppose that has anything to do with our situation?’ He did not say a word. We finished the night, and the next Tuesday, at the first public meeting, is when he did his O-ring demonstration.” (Dean, Margaret Lazarus. January 28, 2016. “An Oral History Of The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster”. Popular Mechanics.)

Sold for $14,700.

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Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman & the Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-51-L) Disaster: Notes Titled “Thrust Distribution” Dated February 5, 1986. One page in blue ink on 8.5″ x 11″ columnar paper. On this sheet, Feynman draws a crude drawing of a shuttle, surrounded by a group of mathematical computations of an advanced nature. He was apparently learning as much about the subject matter as he could, not accepting the premise that an accident was bound to happen eventually. Important holograph calculations. Top torn, light wear. Very fine. The pre-eminent theoretical physicist Richard Feynman was chosen by NASA Acting Director William Graham (a former student) to sit on the Presidential (Rogers) Commission investigating the Challenger Disaster. Feynman was happy lecturing at Cal Tech and reluctant to join. He was appalled at the first meeting of the committee; it looked like they were going to follow President Ronald Reagan’s advice to Rogers: “Whatever you do, don’t embarrass NASA.” Feynman wanted to find the truth, at any cost (and that’s what he did).

Sold for $9,450.

Richard Feynman Signed “Recommendations” of the Rogers Commission Report Investigating the Crash of the Space Shuttle Challenger

Richard Feynman signed “Recommendations”, made by the Rogers Commission to improve safety at NASA after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Signed “RP Feynman” at top right, and marked “PRIVATE (CLOSE HOLD)” at top left, these Recommendations were made at the conclusion of the official Report, which ironically, differed substantially from Feynman’s minority report critiquing NASA’s decision making and risk tolerance. The document begins by recommending that the design of the Sold Rocket Motor joint and seal (the O-rings that failed) be improved, and goes on to suggest bureaucratic and oversight changes at NASA before concluding, “The Commission strongly recommends that NASA continue to receive the support of the Administration and the nation.” Five-page report on five sheets measures 8.5″ x 14″. Folds, else near fine. From the Richard Feynman estate. Sold for $8,400.

Richard Feynman Autograph Manuscript Entitled ”Conversation with Presskill” — Comprising Three Pages of Notes on Theoretical Physics

Richard Feynman autograph manuscript on theoretical physics, circa 1983-1984. Three page document is entitled ”Conversation with Preskill”, referencing physicist John Preskill, who in 1983 joined the Caltech faculty where he is now the Director of the Institute for Quantum Information, and the Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics. Composed in black ink on grid-ruled hole-punched paper, Feynman takes detailed notes with dozens of handwritten equations, summarizing the conversation in five main points. Five sheets included, with writing on three separate sheets and with two blank sheets. Each measures 8.5” x 11”. Spot of discoloration to bottom of one page and light creasing, overall near fine condition. Sold for $5,250.

Richard Feynman Autograph Manuscript Entitled ”Conversation with Presskill” — Comprising Three Pages of Notes on Theoretical Physics. Click to enlarge.Richard Feynman Minority Report PC typed draft

Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman & the Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-51-L) Disaster: First Computer Printout Draft of His “Appendix F” to the Rogers Commission Report with Handwritten Notes, as Sent to Dr. Alton G. Keel. Eleven pages, lightweight 8.5″ x 11″ plain paper, printed apparently on a dot matrix printer. A printed copy of the final complete “Appendix F” will be included with the lot. A real piece of Space history. Fine. There is a cover letter to Dr. Keel as follows: “DEAR AL, “Here is some stuff I wrote. I don’t know if any of it is suitable for the report as is. But some of the information can guide others a bit, perhaps. Modify it, or use it, as you wish. I think it belongs mostly to Acheson’s committee of which I am a member. “There are several things I could amplify, if there is a need. I haven’t written the AVIONICS part yet… “If anyone needs it I could elaborate on other of the SSME problems, such as the high pressure oxygen pump turbine blades, or also on the problems with bearings, cracked sheet metal, etc. I have data but I didn’t think it too necessary to make my point in this paper. “I shall be at Marshall working with Kutyna for the next 10 days. Call me if you have questions, suggestions or orders. “At your service, Dick Feynman” Feynman closes his remarks with the following: “Let us make recommendations to ensure that NASA deals in a world of reality in understanding technological weaknesses and imperfections well enough to be actively trying to eliminate them. They must live in reality in comparing the costs and utility of the shuttle to other methods of entering space… Only realistic flight schedules should be proposed, schedules which have a reasonable chance of being met. If in this way the government would not support them, then so be it. They owe it to the citizens from whom they ask support to be the wisest decisions for the use of their limited resources. “For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, or it will fail. (NOTE: Feynman’s final version reads: “For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.”) “(PERHAPS THIS IS TOO STRONG, BUT IT IS A WORKING OUTLINE)” Feynman sent his reports on O-rings, etc., to Keel who said he sent them out to everybody, but actually sent them to no one until Feynman found this out. After Keel attempted to edit this report, Feynman said “there was still so much missing that my report wasn’t anything like it was before.” He insisted on and succeeded in publishing this original document as “Appendix F” of the Rogers Commission Report. Sold for $4,600.

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