...And Put On Your Engineering Hat

The First of Many Awards for Ethics Given to Morton Thiokol Engineers Who Opposed the Challenger Launch

by Jim Bowery
Copyright 20011213
The author grants permission to copy without modification.

When the space shuttle blew up

in 1986 I had been avoiding joining the L5 Society because, like the stories NASA told about the space shuttle to get it funded, it seemed populated with too much fiction and too little scientific realism. Here, however, was reality -- blessed and cursed reality -- setting in. The science fiction fans scattered like hypersonic debris from the L5 Society, along with dreams that NASA might yet have the right stuff. That's when I took over the emptied San Diego chapter of the L5 Society and appointed myself its President. This was far from one of those times a demagogue saw a crowd moving in a particular direction, ran out in front of it and declared himself its leader.

Werner Von Braun's National Space Institute, founded to unite NASA, aerospace corporations and space enthusiasts in support of NASA's budget, was still around, moribund and stable. Before I knew it, NSI and the mortally wounded L5 Society were merging. A lot of us, including me, weren't happy to see this opportunity for a radically serious reality check absorbed by The Establishment. So, I'll admit it: That was the primary impetus behind my proposal to the new president, Ben Bova. I asked President Bova to make the first official public act of the new society, to be called The National Space Society, a radical acceptance of a reality not addressable by the National Space Institute as originally envisioned:

There was a serious problem at NASA and its aerospace contractors.

My proposal to the NSS's first President was to make a Presidential Award for Ethics and Integrity to the four Morton Thiokol engineers who had to be excluded from the meeting during which the fateful decision to launch the space shuttle Challenger was made -- primarily because they would not back down from their "no-go" recommendations despite pressure from NASA to launch, apparently in time for President Ronald Reagan's State of the Union address to the US Congress.

I offered to do all the leg work, paying a trophy shop to make four engraved wall plaques, one for each of Roger Boisjoly, Robert Ebeling, Alan McDonald and Arnie Thompson -- and to work with Morton Thiokol public relations to allow an official acceptance from their engineers. Bova accepted the proposal and at the National Space Society's first national meeting in Pittsburgh, Ben Bova allowed me to present the plaques to Arnie Thompson, Supervisor Structures Design who accepted on behalf of all four engineers. It was to be the first of many awards to those men for their engineering ethics under enormous professional pressure to buckle.



Jim Bowery, at the first national meeting of the National Space Society, presenting the National Space Society's Presidential Award for Ethics and Integrity to Arnie Thompson who accepts on behalf of Morton Thiokol engineers, Roger Boisjoly, Robert Ebeling, Alan McDonald and himself. Ben Bova, President of NSS, looks on. 


Below is the not-so-famous interoffice memo describing the O-ring seal problem well in advance of Richard Feynman's famous analysis of the cause of the Challenger explosion.

Memo from A.R. Thompson on the Flight Seal

---

Morton Thiokol, Inc

Wasatch Division

Interoffice Memo

2871:FY86:141

22 August 1985



TO:     S.R. Stein

        Project Engineer



CC:     J.R. Kapp, K.M. Sperry, B.G. Russell, R.V. Ebeling,

        H.H. McIntosh, R. M. Salita, D.M. Ketner



FROM:       A.R. Thompson, Supervisor

        Structures Design



SUBJECT:    SRM Flight Seal Recommendation





The O-ring seal problem has lately become acute.  Solutions, 

both long and short term are being sought, in the mean time 

flights are continuing.  It is my recommendation that a near 

term solution be incorporated for flights following STS-27 

which is currently scheduled for 24 August 1985.  The near 

term solution uses maximum possible shim thickness and a 

.292 +.005/-.003 inch dia O-ring.  The results of these two 

changes are shown in Table 1.  A great deal of effort will 

be required to incorporate these changes.  However, as shown 

in the Table the O-ring squeeze is nearly doubled for the 

example (STS-27A).  A best effort should be made to include

a max shim kit and the .292 dia O-ring as soon as it is 

practical.  Much of the initial blow-by during O-ring sealing 

is controlled by O-ring squeeze.  Also more sacrificial O-ring 

material is available to protect the sealed portion of the 

O-ring.  The added cros-sectional area of the .292 dia O-ring 

will help the resilience response by added pressure from the 

groove side wall.



Several long term solutions look good; but, several years are 

required to incorporate some of them.  The simple short term 

measues should be taken to reduce flight risks.



A. R. Thompson



ART/jh