Upcoming book about the 1986 Challenger disaster

[CraigD]

On its way to my paper recycling bin (virtual sub-bin “junk mail”), I noticed on one of the retirement community junk mails with which my household is bombarded (my wife, a retired social worker, worked with and in nursing homes for years, so is on innumerable such mailing lists) a little graphic of the Challenger disaster, captioned “Lessons from the Challenger disaster”. Not the sort of thing one normally sees on a retirement commuity newsmailing, I read the page 6 (of 10) article, and learned the following:

Allan J. McDonald, director of Morton Thiokol’s Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor Project at the time Challenger’s 1/28/1986 explosion, and head of the subsequent redesign project, is planning to publish this spring his memoirs of these events under the title “Truth, Lies, and O-Rings: The Untold Story Behind the Challenger Accident”.

Though not a very well-known person, McDonald has had some press since 1986, such as this 1/28/1987 NYT article. Along with other Thiokol and NASA engineers and managers, McDonald is reported to have felt deep regret about the accident. Along with engineer Roger Boisjoly, McDonald is reported to have unequivocally objected to the 1/28/1986 launch of STS-61-C, citing concerns that what did happen, would.

This book is unlikely to be front rack or webpage material, so spacecraft engineering and history enthusiasts might want to be on the lookout for it. As someone who makes a habit of reading practically anything former astronauts and manned spaceflight engineers manage to publish, I will be.

[freeztar]

That looks like a great read!
Thanks for the heads up (and unintended marketing ).

As an aside:
I was in fifth grade (about 8 years old) when the Challenger launched. All of the classrooms in the fifth grade "pod" met in a single room and we watched the launch on a 19" TV. When the tragic explosion occurred, the room erupted in laughter, applause, and woo-hoos. (as if it were a firework)

I was dismayed and looked around the room. All the teachers were in shock (as you can imagine), they did not know how to process everything that was going on. I'll never forget that moment. It was a powerful lesson for me. Laughter has never been so sad.

[PhysBang]

I'm not sure how much of this story is "untold". The story of the disaster is part of at least one business ethics textbooks.

[Buffy]

Of course if you're interested in the topic, the second volume of Dick Feynman's autobiography, "What Do You Care What Other People Think" is a must-read. Its only a section of the book, but its an eye-opening account of just how the "review committees" work after these disasters (the book's title is a quote from one of the pro-Morton-Thiokol members of the Challenger review board).

For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled,
Buffy