Murphy’s Law

Thank you for publishing such a complete career summary of Col. John Paul Stapp (obituary, Nov. 22) and for including a reference to “Murphy’s Law,” correctly attributing it to my father, Edward A. Murphy Jr. (1918-1989).

However, it was not Murphy who “rigged a harness incorrectly.” It was a technician on his test team, who will forever go politely nameless. The sensor harness mistake was the classic of being absolutely wrong. Sensors intended to switch “on” the instant the rocket sled test started were incorrectly connected to switch “off.”

From its origin after the failed test in 1949, “Murphy’s Law” became an undercurrent theme for thoroughness in all of Col. Stapp’s high-speed tests in the early ‘50s. Each test took weeks to prepare, seconds to execute and months to analyze, so this one simple failure was kept as an example for all the tests that followed.

ROBERT MURPHY

Hermosa Beach