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From: tim@ism780c.UUCP (Tim Smith)
Newsgroups: net.columbia,net.space
Subject: Re: Morton-Thiokol Engineering Claims
Message-ID: <758@ism780c.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 24-Feb-86 18:22:07 EST
Article-I.D.: ism780c.758
Posted: Mon Feb 24 18:22:07 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Feb-86 21:17:26 EST
References: <1301@decwrl.DEC.COM>
Reply-To: tim@ism780c.UUCP (Tim Smith)
Organization: Interactive Systems Corp., Santa Monica, CA
Lines: 32
Xref: linus net.columbia:2070 net.space:4548

In article <1301@decwrl.DEC.COM> eros@chovax.DEC writes:
>
>  In my view, if the situation developed the way the engineers
>  are claiming it did, then they are equally (if not more) culpible
>  than the company executives who signed off on the launch OK and
>  the NASA management who insisted on it, since they KNEW that
>  seven people (more, if an explosion on the pad occurred) and
>  25% of the shuttle fleet were in extreme danger of destruction
>  and they chose not to put their reputations on the line by
>  publicly speaking out against the launch.

This seems unfair to the MT engineers.  Isn't the final decision to
launch made close enough to launch time that it wouldn't do any good
to go to the press?  If it didn't explode, they would probably lose
their jobs.

Also, perhaps they thought they _could_ stop the launch.  I heard 
on the news ( CNN, I think ), that the MT engineer in Florida who 
has to sign the form that says MT approves of the launch refused 
to sign.  If the MT engineers in Utah knew that the guy in 
Florida was on their side, they might have felt that even if they
couldn't convince NASA and MT management to postpone the launch, 
that the fact that they guy in Florida wouldn't sign would stop 
it anyway.  Management was able to send a signature over the 
phone to allow the launch to go on as scheduled.  By this time, 
the MT engineers probably only had time to sit back and watch, 
and hope that nothing happened.  

If all this turns out to be true, some management heads in NASA and MT
will probably be rolling soon ...
-- 
Tim Smith       sdcrdcf!ism780c!tim || ima!ism780!tim || ihnp4!cithep!tim