When NASA Wouldn't Listen
This Week's Theme: Powerful Words
Monday, June 12, 2000
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice (Proverbs 12:15). Bonus Reading: Proverbs 18:13; 19:20; Ecclesiastes 7:5
On a bright January morning in 1986, the space shuttle Challenger burst into flames 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts on board.
Flashback one year. Roger Boisjoly, a senior scientist with a NASA contractor, examines blackened grease on partially eroded O-rings of a recently flown shuttle. He suspects that the relatively cool temperature in which the shuttle flew hardened the rubber rings, breaking their seal and permitting the booster's hot combustible gases to escape.
Boisjoly performs lab tests. At 75º, the primary O-rings lose their seal for 2.4 seconds; at 50º, for 10 minutes. The backup O-ring remains sealed. But at too low a temperature, he concludes, neither would seal, leading to a booster explosion. Boisjoly raises the issue with top management.
The day before the shuttle's scheduled liftoff is bitterly colda predicted 18º at launch time. Three teams of engineers and managers teleconference. Boisjoly insists that the temperature must be at least 53º for the shuttle to safely launch. A top NASA official responds, "My God, when do you want me to launch? Next April?"
The contractor's managers vote 4-0 to recommend launch.
Michael A. Zigarelli in Management by Proverbs
Personal Challenge:
-
What makes people courageous enough to say "no" when everyone else says "yes"?
Thought to Apply: It's easy to know all the answers if you don't bother to listen to the questions.
ANONYMOUS
Credits: Adapted from Monday: Management by Proverbs (Moody Press, Moody Bible Institute, 1999)
Copyright © 2000 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity. For reprint information click here.
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