1986 Challenger Shuttle Failure

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The 1986 Challenger tragedy shook the nation to its core as a malfunction in the o-rings caused a seal breach in one of the connecting joints of the right rocket booster, creating the perfect environment for disaster. The ruptured liquid hydrogen and oxygen tanks combined with the jet fuel that had been ignited during the launch resulted in an explosion that took place just 73 seconds after liftoff. The o-ring failure ultimately caused the deaths of seven astronauts, halting the space program’s shuttle missions for almost three years. Many papers have been written on the various engineering failures that took place throughout the Challenger shuttle project however it is important to analyze the Challenger disaster with relation to the inadequacy of the involved individuals’ ethical decisions in addition to the physical causes. …show more content…
There are three organizations that played key roles in the Challenger project: the Morton Salt Company, Thiokol, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Morton acquired Thiokol and became the parent company of the manufacturer of the solid fuel rocket boosters of the Challenger; where the o-ring failure occurred (Werhane 605). There are several individuals from each of these companies that had a lot of influence over the decisions that were made that eventually led to Challenger’s demise. From Morton Thiokol, the people in charge were Allen McDonald, who was the project supervisor, Roger Boisjoly, Morton’s leading expert on rocket boosters, Robert Lund, Vice President of engineering and an engineer himself, Jerry Mason, his boss, and Joe Kilminster, Vice President for the space booster programs. From NASA, the main individual that was involved was Larry Mulloy, the manager of the solid rocket booster
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