If the second O-ring had failed, the results would almost certainly have been catastrophic with the complete loss of the shuttle and crew seemingly the only outcome. His investigation found that the first O-ring failed because the low temperatures on the night before the flight had compromised the flexibility of the O-ring, reducing its ability to form a seal. The temperature at launch had been only , the coldest on record (until January 28, 1986). The first rubber O-ring had formed a partial seal, not a complete one; but the second O-ring had held.