Assignment name: Space shuttle challenger disaster (1986)

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 Space shuttle challenger disaster

On January 28 1986 a devastating tragedy took place when NASA’s space shuttle

challenger exploded in just 78 seconds and all the astronauts in it were killed. The astronauts that

were killed in this accident were Dick Scobee (commander), Michel Smith (pilot), Judy Resnik

(mission specialist), Ronald McNair (mission specialist), Ellison Onizuka (mission specialist),

Gregory Jarvis (payload specialist), and Christa McAuliffe (payload specialist). The inspection

of this disaster revealed that at that time the weather of Florida was cold and due to this there

was ice collected on the launch pads. NASA had no experience of operating at such cold

temperatures and the lowest temperature that they operated was 20 degrees warmer than this.

There were number of missions assigned to the crew, one of it was to deploy the data relay

satellite. Ms. McAuliffe was a teacher at NASA’s space program and she would have delivered

lectures from the shuttle in the classrooms of the world.

The main accident was due to the failure of the hardware, but there were also some bad

decisions that contributed to the accident. The mismanagement of the group decision support

system (GDSS) was the most important factor. The decision taken by the group to launch the

shuttle in the space was flawed. In all the transportation accidents there are some other factors

too, that contribute to the main accident. The first factor that contributed was space shuttle was

approved for missions that were in the space, without a single definition of what will be its

operational goals. The support for this project was gained from politically and economically. For

the political support It was presented as ‘’quick payoff’’ project. For the military support it was

shown as an increase in national defense. NASA wanted to launch the Challenger, despite the

bad weather. The day before launch Thiokol provided NASA with the information that it was a

bad idea to launch Challenger as the weather was cold enough. The idea of not launching was not
liked by NASA as the previous launch was also cancelled. Both the parties (NASA and Thiokol)

knew that the ‘’O’’ rings need upgrading. On the night of the launch there was a flaw in the

NASA database and they were questioned about it. NASA asked the engineers of Thiokol about

the launch and they said to wait for the temperature to reach 53 degree Fahrenheit. This idea was

not liked by NASA and they pressured Thiokot to change their decision. The manager of NASA

responded to the decision as ‘’My God, Thiokol, when do you want me to launch, next April?"

(Mr. Lawrence Mulloy). Then the Thiokol representatives asked some time and gave the

permission to launch. This decision was made by keeping aside the safety goals of the

management. Then the NASA asked if there were any other objections by any other GDSS

member, but they were all clear.

This disaster could have been avoided if some of the things had done differently. NASA

and other representatives in the group were responsible to take any kind of decision relating to

the launch. Thiokol knew about the ‘’O’’ ring problem and should have kept pressurizing NASA

to cancel the delay. Thiokol passed the information about the ‘’O’’ ring, but NASA wanted to

launch challenger and could not wait for the right time. This was a group decision and no other

group had any objections when it was clear that the launch is risky. All members of the group

were afraid of the public and political response about the launch being cancelled. One more flaw

was the communication system they had. If all the members were at the same place and they if

they had a good debate, then the outcome would have been completely different. Speaker and

microphone were not a good choice of communication when the matter was that sensitive. The

GDSS were ineffective. The only objection that was put forward was by Thiokol when other

members had no objection. The objection that Thiokot had was not given the importance it

deserved. If they argued on this objection, then the launch could have been delayed.
 Work cited

"The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster." Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster 1986. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.

@michaeldwall. "Challenger Disaster 30 Years Ago Shocked the World, Changed

NASA."

Space.com. N.p., @SPACEdotcom. "The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster: What

Happened? (Infographic)." Space.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2016. n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.