Looking Back on Challanger

What is the most complex accomplishment of our government in the past 50 years? To me this is a "no brainer". The ability to put human beings in space and return them safely home, as President Kennedy first proposed in the mid 1960's is easily the correct answer. We, the United States of America through NASA have now done this hundreds of times.  All of this has not come without great risk... and tragedy.

NASA has made errors in design and judgment. There have been three occasions which led to death and disaster are February 21, 1967, when three astronauts will killed on the Launchpad while conducting a live test of Apollo 1. The second failure was on January 28, 1986 when the space shuttle Challenger exploded during launch killing all 7 astronauts on board. The most recent NASA disaster was when the Columbia exploded on re-entry killing all 7 astronauts on board on February 1, 2003.

On a mathematical scale alone the percentage of our success reaching into space is impressive. However percentages when considering human lives is an entirely different consideration. Each of these three disasters were caused by human error and each time started with problems in system design followed by arrogance by those making decisions even when the design flaws were brought to their attention.

So much of what we do on a daily basis and how we make decisions can be learned by reflecting on these 3 NASA disasters. NASA's space program is in a slow down period at this time because the space shuttle program has been retired after 20+ years of missions and although the new Orion program promises a return to the moon and then Mars it will take longer then it otherwise should, primarily because of our slumping economy and the non-committal of society in general.

This weekend I watched the new Discovery Channel movie, "The Challenger Disaster" which was excellent. Although there is some "dramatic license" with the telling of this true story it is well worth your time if you want to learn more about that space shuttle disaster. This is the Discovery Channel’s first dramatic feature film, The Challenger Disaster, staring Bruce Greenwood, William Hurt and Brian Denney.

The film is based around Richard Feynman’s investigation into the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster that killed all seven astronauts during liftoff.

Based on Dr. Feynman’s book What Do you Care What Other People Think, the film will follow Feynman’s efforts to discover the cause of the shuttle's explosion and expose the truth behind the disaster.

The Challenger Disaster premièred on Saturday November 16th The Science Channel and airs throughout the month. I recommend everyone check it out.

I have not read the book "Truth, Lies and O-Rings: Inside the Challenger Disaster" by Allan J. McDonald but it sits on my Kindle in the on-deck circle. This book has received excellent reviews and is now considered the best account of what went wrong with the Challenger. If you are interested in learning more check it out.