Ethical And Managerial Issues In The NASA Space Shuttle Program

Francis R. Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A.Resnik, Ronald E. McNair, Gregory B. Jarvis and S. Christa McAuliffe were the seven crew members aboard the challenger on the tragic day of January 28th 1986- a day that later called into question many organizational issues within NASA and managerial issues within the space shuttle program. Besides being recognized as the first mission to include a civilian astronaut, It is safe to say that the challenger shuttle disaster marked the reorganization of the space shuttle program and reinvented space travel in the U.S entirely.
Lawrence Mulloy was one of the directors for the NASA space shuttle program and after nine previous missions, he was extremely enthusiastic about launching
“Later that night Thoikol engineering and the Kennedy Space Center set up a conference call to discuss the likely effects the projected weather would have on the conditions of the O-ring seals”. In one final attempt to postpone the flight, Roger Boisjoly suggests that the O-rings are more than likely to fail during flight due to the cold weather. He adamantly pleaded that NASA postpone the launch and fly at the safest temperature of 53 degrees. Nonchalant, Mulloy responds to his request, saying “My God, Thiokol, When do you want me to launch — next April?”. Facing the pressures of launching the following day Mulloy and other NASA officials were then faced with an ethical dilemma. Stay on schedule or risk the lives of the crew members to achieve a successful mission? To stay on schedule and successfully complete the mission would deliver valuable information that can be used to further expand the space shuttle program. It also would possibly mean continuing the teach in space program,
The explosion occurred 73 seconds into the flight as a result of a leak in one of two Solid Rocket Boosters that ignited the main liquid fuel tank”. Devastated by the disaster, the President Reagan immediately ordered the investigation of the aircraft tragedy which was headed by the Rogers commission. After months of investigation it had been concluded that the failure of the “O-ring” seal on the right side of the rocket booster had been the root cause of the explosion. “Tests conducted during the Rogers Commission investigation showed that O-rings were much less resilient at lower temperatures. As a result, they would not be able to expand along with the Solid Rocket Boosters case motion, and may not seal the joint properly. This is what happened with the sub-freezing O-rings in Challenger's right Solid Rocket Boosters aft field joint”. Lawrence Mulloy’s inaction to resolve, and blatant ignorance to faulty manufacturing cost the lives of several people aboard the challenger space shuttle. “Challenger's explosion changed the space shuttle program in several ways. Plans to fly other civilians in space (such as journalists) were shelved for 22 years, until Barbara Morgan, who was McAuliffe's backup, flew aboard Endeavour in