RIP Roger Boisjoly: He Tried To Stop Challenger Launch

durangodawood

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This sums up nicely the entirety of AV's theology and general understanding of reality. Sad...
You all should really stop arguing with this guy. Nothing you could show him matters.
 
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Michael

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As it turns out, many scientists tried to stop the launch of the Challenger shuttle, but NASA managers decided to go ahead even with all the warnings. One of the most vocal engineers was Roger Boisjoly predicted "a catastrophe of the highest order" involving "loss of human life" in a memo to managers at Thiokol a full six months before the accident. Unfortunately, managers chose to ignore his (and others) advice.

Boisjoly died last month and there are a few pieces about his life and work circulating this week:

Roger Boisjoly, 73, Dies; Warned of Shuttle Danger

Remembering Roger Boisjoly: He Tried To Stop Shuttle Challenger Launch : The Two-Way : NPR

It's a real pity that Roger's warnings weren't taken more seriously by NASA. NASA is typically pretty conservative, and human life is precious. Politics and financial pressure however tend to trump logic and common sense I'm afraid. I'm sorry to hear about his death. We need more mavericks and free thinkers in science and engineering, and fewer "yes men".
 
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AV1611VET

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It's a real pity that Roger's warnings weren't taken more seriously by NASA.
I have a feeling they thought he was a crackpot.

Evidently his evidence was too myopic to convince them.
 
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Michael

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I have a feeling they thought he was a crackpot.

Evidently his evidence was too myopic to convince them.

Unfortunately that's probably true. :(

It's too bad that the science is so adversarial and there is so much economic and political pressure to worry about.
 
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AV1611VET

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Unfortunately that's probably true. :(

It's too bad that the science is so adversarial and there is so much economic and political pressure to worry about.
Do you mind commenting on Post 8 please?
 
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Michael

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I choose not to believe this.

If I were Boisjoly, I would have gone straight to the pilot, Michael J. Smith, and told him myself.

Here's Mr. Smith's resume -- it's impressive, in my opinion:

He, of all people, would certainly have understood.

Why didn't Boisjoly lie under the shuttle's nozzles or something to stop the launch himself?

I suspect administration thought Mr. Boisjoly was either trying to get some free publicity, or he was being too vague -- or both.

The fact is though, I wasn't there -- and neither were you -- (AFAIK).

Hmmm. I could only speculate I'm afraid.

It seems to me that Mr. Boisyoly was in the best position to fully understand the gravity and extent of the problem, and the NASA managers should have respected that. However, once the "higher ups" started to question his opinion, I'm not sure anyone else would have the same level of conviction as Mr. Boisyoly. I have no idea if the shuttle crew and pilot understood the full risks. I doubt the crew did.

Space travel however is an inherently risky business to start with, and with the pilot's military background he was used to taking 'orders', even risky orders. The pilot might have felt that the risk was acceptable even if he understood that it could be a problem, particularly if the NASA engineers told him that they believed that it was an acceptable risk. There had been no catastrophic failures to that point in time, although their had been O-ring failures in the past.

I can't really speak to anyone's motives or level of understanding. I'd be speculating at best case. Suffice to say however that it was an unnecessary risk and NASA *should* have scrubbed the launch if they valued human life more than they cared about keeping an arbitrary schedule. It's not like they didn't have six months to consider the gravity of the problem from the time of his first memo. The upper echelon of NASA should have been more cautious particularly after previous 0-ring failures on cold days.
 
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FrumiousBandersnatch

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I have a feeling they thought he was a crackpot.

Evidently his evidence was too myopic to convince them.
Not so - he was one of Thiokol's most respected engineers; other engineers had also expressed concerns about it; the problem was known and documented, and there was photographic evidence to support it. Thiokol management had decided to recommend delaying the launch until the conference call with NASA changed their minds.
 
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AV1611VET

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Not so - he was one of Thiokol's most respected engineers; other engineers had also expressed concerns about it; the problem was known and documented, and there was photographic evidence to support it. Thiokol management had decided to recommend delaying the launch until the conference call with NASA changed their minds.
If I showed you there was a bomb in the car, set to go off when the odometer registers one more mile, would you drive it if your boss told you to?
 
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FrumiousBandersnatch

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If I showed you there was a bomb in the car, set to go off when the odometer registers one more mile, would you drive it if your boss told you to?
If you're trying to make an analogy, it's broken.
 
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AV1611VET

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If you're trying to make an analogy, it's broken.
Post 8 please.

Is this how the conversation went?

Roger: Commander Smith, you can't get on that thing. Look here at these stats I've ...
Michael: Get lost! Are you starting that again? You've been spreading that junk all over NASA.
Roger: But ... but look at the data.
Michael: Forget the data. I'm not interested. If you can't convince mission control with that stuff, don't bring it to me and make me look like a fool.
Roger: You are a fool if you get on that thing!
Michael: Security!
 
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No. The crew were busy with their preparations; they would only be told the mission status (go, delay, no-go). If you want to know what happened, read the links in the OP.
This crew must have been more sequestered than the jury at the Manson trial.
 
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