Research Paper on the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster

The Technical Problem

On 28th January, the year 1986, a recorded number of seven astronauts were dead when the space shuttle referred to as the challenger exploded seventy-two minutes into the flight. It was reported that due to the failure of the solid rocket booster O-ring to fully seal properly enabled the combustion of gasses to successfully leak from the side of the booster and consequently burn up to the external fuel tank. It was also recorded that the failure of the O-ring was as a result of various factors. These factors included the following, inappropriate design of the solid rocket boosters, lack of adequate communication amongst different levels of NASA management and lastly inadequate low-temperature testing of the O-ring materials and also the joints that the O-ring sealed.

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The following are the organizations/ people who were significantly involved in space shuttle Challenger disaster; Marshall space flight center which was in full charge of the booster rocket development, Alan McDonald who was in charge as a director of the solid rocket motors project. Also, Larry Mulloy who significantly challenged the engineer's decision not to launch, and also Morton Thiokol who was contracted by NASA to help in building the solid rocket booster. It is reported that NASA managers were very anxious to participate in the launching process of the challenger due to various reasons, i.e., as a result of political pressures, economic considerations, and the scheduling backlogs. Furthermore, the unforeseen competition mostly from the European agency placed NASA in a ground in which it had to fly the shuttle dependently to prove the space transportation system as a cost-effective and very viable for commercialization.

The space shuttle mission was recorded to have been delayed sometimes which were as a result of mechanic and inclement weather factors, and the vice president was highly expected to launch since he was a principal spokesman for the president on the space program. The next launch delay was as a result of the microswitch which occurred in the hatch locking mechanism due to various complications in removing the hatch handle.

Ethical Dilemma

During the launch delays, NASA was proposed to check with all contractors to ensure if there would be any hindrance with launching in the cold temperatures. Consequently, Alan McDonald and Morton Thiokol were convinced that there were problems caused by the cold-weather with the solid motors. Morton Thiokol knew as early as 1977 that there was a problem with the boosters and he went ahead to initiate a redesign effort in the year 1985. On the night before the launch, the temperatures for the following launch were predicted to be low twenty degrees. As time goes by it had dropped to eight degrees which was recorded to be much higher than it had been anticipated. There were reports that the ice would fall off during the launch and this could destroy the heat resistant tile on the shuttle.

During the launch, the effect of the ignition broke loose ice from the launch platform, and it stuck the left-hand booster which resulted in some amount of ice being sucked into the booster nozzle. At around fifty-nine seconds, the challenger experience the strong wind shear which has never been encountered in a shuttle mission.

What Would You Have Done if You Were the Engineer?

Since that the managers encouraged the launching of the shuttle challenger because there was inadequate low temperatures data and also there was low data available to make an informed decision, I was an engineer, I could have stopped the launching process of the shuttle. Disaster