Re: What was the biggest problem for each of the 2 destroyed US space shuttles?

From: Kevin Willoughby (KevinWilloughby_at_acm.org.invalid)
Date: 09/03/04

  • Next message: Kevin Willoughby: "Re: What was the biggest problem for each of the 2 destroyed US space shuttles?" 
    Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2004 23:25:02 -0400

    In article <Xns9558DD4F2D19Frk@199.184.165.239>,
    stellare@NOSPAMPLEASE.erols.com says...
    > Brian Thorn wrote:
    >
    > > On Wed, 1 Sep 2004 17:53:29 -0600, "Jay Windley"
    > > <webmaster@clavius.org> wrote:
    > >>It's unfair to say they were "ignored".
    > >
    > > "My, God, Thiokol... when *do* you want us to launch... April?"
    >
    > When you launch over the strong and continued objections of the lead engineers
    > and the Director of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor Project I would say
    > that it's very fair to say that they were in fact "ignored."

    Yep. But while the management clearly made a major mistake in ignoring
    those objections, it is worth noting that Lead Engineers and a Director
    *should* have been able to present the supporting data for those
    objections in a way that is understandable to management. Explaining
    things to non-engineers is part of what distinguishes a Lead Engineer,
    much less Director, from a Junior Engineer or non-techinical manager.

    I've said this before: In Visual Explanations, Edward Tufte makes the
    case that (in part) the inability of the engineers to present the
    available data in a comprehensible fashion doomed the Challenger. Given
    the charts that the engineers presented to their management, there is no
    obvious elation ship between temperature and O-ring erosion, so the
    management had no reason to delay the launch. 

    -- 
Kevin Willoughby         kevinwilloughby@acm.orgNoSpam.invalid
Imagine that, a FROG ON-OFF switch, hardly the work 
for test pilots. -- Mike Collins
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