Roger Boisjoly dies at 73; engineer tried to halt Challenger launch

[rocktivity]

17. I was going to watch the launch at home and get to work a little late

Last edited Sat Dec 28, 2013, 01:54 PM - Edit history (5)

But once I learned it was 32 degrees in Florida, I left at my usual time because I didn't think for one second that they'd attempt to launch in such weather when they'd never done it before.

I arrived at work to find people gathered around the TV in a conference room. Though the temperature had skyrocketed to a scorching 36 degrees, my exact words were "They're STILL going through with it? They're CRAZY!" Nonetheless, I was still so confident that the launch would be called off that I went to my cubicle, turned on the radio and proceeded with my work day. It was the radio that told me what had happened, and I rushed back to the conference room where I saw the "replay."

I recall that the launch had already been delayed at least once. News reports suggested that NASA was under political pressure to produce results, and no doubt Morton Thiokol wanted to protect their reputation (not to mention collect their fees). Now it turns out that frozen O-rings had been a potential danger since they got off the drawing board; that the engineers had been overruled by corporate management; that another engineer was branded a whistleblower for telling the truth; that Boisjoly couldn't bring himself to watch the launch; and that NASA juggled safety and political expediency routinely.

So it turns out that I had been right: they WERE crazy.

Roger Boisjoly's career was hijacked because he did the right thing. Postponing the launch until the weather improved would have been the right thing. Doing the right thing isn't always fun or comfortable or easy or convenient -- but it IS always right.

There's no need to hope that Roger Boisjoly will rest in peace -- he's already taken care of that. So I'll call just him a great American hero and patriot, and thank him for his service.


rocktivity