Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster: Ethics Case Study No. 1
About | Information | History | Online | Facts | Discovery
Allan J. McDonald, former director of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor Project for Morton Thiokol, discusses the events surrounding the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger.
Comments
-
This man would also make a great lawyer.
I have a lot of respect for him. -
Although i'm a little dissapointed to be the first commentator - Challenger is such an important piece of history in regards to NASA and engineering, both in space flight and in general - i know there are other, perhaps better known programs on YT covering what happened 1/28/86 (and it is a long time ago, in a now cancelled program).
That said, this is a fantastic and tragic example of what can happen when decisions are rushed and dangers are ignored, wilfully or not. You have to applaud Mr McDonald for trying, but you don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that he got railroaded by NASA and screwed by his own boss.
There are important lessons to be learned here, for anyone in a decision making posistion, yet tragically we also see how even harsh lessons like Challenger can be forgotten if enough time passes. I have seen a talk given by a member of the Columbia accident board and the verdict given on NASA was exactly - exactly - the same as it was for Challenger. NASA were/are an insular agency, who did not care much for what outsiders had to say as they "knew it all", being the only agency with manned space flight experience. The board member in question was a former secretary to the USAF and when asked what would have happened if NASA asked for a pictures she said "the USAF were my big, eager sheepdog, always looking to please", i.e. NASA would've got the pictures asap, with a bow on, and yet they knew best. The computer had said so.
With all this in mind, both Mr McDonalds testimony and what i've learned about Columbia and if i was a member of the families of those lost on either Challenger or Columbia, i would be so angry you could fry an egg on forehead. These astronauts were lost - mainly - because of carelessness and rash decision making. Sure, there were other factors - especially in Challengers case - but the bottom line is that these astronauts could have been alive.
20m 29sLenght
70Rating