7 myths about the Challenger shuttle disaster

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Audience/Grade:	College Freshman - Continuing Education
Discipline(s):	Aerospace Engineering Engineering Ethics Engineering Mechanics General Engineering, Engineering Science
Special Topic(s):	Technology and Society History of Technology
Learning Resource Type:	Reference - Article/Document
Media Type:	WWW
Author(s):	MSNBC News, James Oberg
Description:	NBC News article published January 27, 2006. Excerpts: "It didn't explode, the crew didn't die instantly and it wasn't inevitable. Twenty years ago, millions of television viewers were horrified to witness the live broadcast of the space shuttle Challenger exploding 73 seconds into flight, ending the lives of the seven astronauts on board. And they were equally horrified to learn in the aftermath of the disaster that the faulty design had been chosen by NASA to satisfy powerful politicians who had demanded the mission be launched, even under unsafe conditions. Meanwhile, a major factor in the disaster was that NASA had been ordered to use a weaker sealant for environmental reasons. Finally, NASA consoled itself and the nation with the realization that all frontiers are dangerous and to a certain extent, such a disaster should be accepted as inevitable." The article takes the position that these claims are misleading, at best, and most are myths.
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Keywords:	Space science, Technology, Space Shuttle Challenger, ethics


Usage Tip
Related ABET Criteria:	(f) Understand professional and ethical responsibility
Use of Resource:	Could be used as reference material for an ethics course or module on the Space Shuttle Challenger.
Difficulty:	Easy
Interactivity Level:	Very Low