Comment Re:"international disaster" (Score 3, Interesting) 351
The events that could have been avoided by NASA continued through because they were more concerned about the negative press from not making a launch date than they were about listening to an engineer say that there was a problem that needed to be addressed. I have been placed in this very position myself.
I worked for Martin Marietta and was put to work on analysis of the onboard fuel tanks for the Reaction Control System (RCS). The fuel tanks had to go through a process where they were welded together and could not be heat treated to relieve residual stresses after welding because of temperature sensative devices inside the tank. Analytically the residual stresses were beyond what was permissible for a pressure vessel and the life of the vessel was in question. Rather than resolve the questions that were raised, the management of the company fought with me about my conclusions and analysis. It turns out in the end that what I had predicted was true and the tanks were dangerous to pressurize. The reason that there was never a disaster was because the tanks were tested at cryogenic temperatures and went through a stress relief because of the testing.
There was more effort put into hiding previous analysis and predictions than there was on trying to understand what really happened. I believe that the Thiokol and NASA officials are responsible for the Challenger accident in whole.
I worked for Martin Marietta and was put to work on analysis of the onboard fuel tanks for the Reaction Control System (RCS). The fuel tanks had to go through a process where they were welded together and could not be heat treated to relieve residual stresses after welding because of temperature sensative devices inside the tank. Analytically the residual stresses were beyond what was permissible for a pressure vessel and the life of the vessel was in question. Rather than resolve the questions that were raised, the management of the company fought with me about my conclusions and analysis. It turns out in the end that what I had predicted was true and the tanks were dangerous to pressurize. The reason that there was never a disaster was because the tanks were tested at cryogenic temperatures and went through a stress relief because of the testing.
There was more effort put into hiding previous analysis and predictions than there was on trying to understand what really happened. I believe that the Thiokol and NASA officials are responsible for the Challenger accident in whole.
