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

[Gabi Hayes]

55. ''...as the vehicle cleared the tower Bob whispered to me that we had just dodged a bullet.''

I'll NEVER forget Boisjoly saying these words in an interview I saw years ago.

here's the rest, in his own words, which will make you sick to your stomach:

http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=Boisjoly+we+dodged+a+bullet&d=4826177886880893&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=1211d80f,afdbce52

It was approximately five minutes prior to the launch as I was walking past the room used to view launches when Bob Ebeling stepped out to encourage me to enter and watch the launch. At first I refused, but he finally persuaded me to watch the launch. The room was filled, so I seated myself on the floor closest to the screen and leaned against Bob's legs as he was seated in a chair.

The boosters ignited, and as the vehicle cleared the tower Bob whispered to me that we had just dodged a bullet. At approximately T+60 seconds Bob told me that he had just completed a prayer of thanks to the Lord for a successful launch.

Just 13 seconds later we both saw the horror of destruction as the vehicle exploded. We all sat in stunned silence for a short time, then I got up and left the room and went directly to my office, where I remained the rest of the day.

more here:

http://temp.onlineethics.org/essays/shuttle/index.html

Essay by Roger Boisjoly.
A background summary of important events leading to the Challenger disaster starting with January, 1985, plus the specifics of the telecon meeting held the night prior to the launch at which an attempt was made to stop the launch by the Morton Thiokol engineers. In the essay he argues that the off-line telecon caucus by Morton Thiokol Management constituted the unethical decision-making forum which ultimately produced the management decision to launch Challenger without any restrictions.