pwb@fritz.UUCP (Phil Bonesteele) (02/20/86)
I was listening to the PBS radio news program "Morning edition" this a.m. when they presented a very interesting report on interviews with senior Morton Thiokol engineers. This is a synopsis of the content of that report. Apparently the senior MT engineers were VERY concerned about the low temperatures at the Cape and their effects on the SRB O-rings the day before the launch. Their own tests and examination of the SRB O-rings from a Jan. '85 launch where the temperatures where around fifty degrees F. demonstrated that the effectiveness of the O-rings degrades rapidly at temperatures below fifty. Since the temperatures at the Cape where in the thirties, the engineers felt strongly enough about postponing the launch that they approached senior Morton Thiokol management the night before the launch. A conference call to NASA was convened with the senior MT management and engineers on one side, and senior NASA launch personnel on the other. One MT engineer quoted the NASA Shuttle program director as saying "What do you want me to do, postpone it until next April?" A NASA engineer questioned the validity of the MT engineers tests. The MT engineers stressed repeatedly that their test results were accurate and that the tests indicated a strong possibility of O-ring failure during a launch at the temperatures present at the Cape. The discussion apparently degenerated into shouting match. Finally the MT management decided that this was a "management decision" and asked NASA what they wanted. NASA asked the MT upper management (the MT General Manager included) to sign a document saying they approved of a launch the next a.m. given the current weather conditions. All but one MT manager signed. The MT engineers left the meeting in disgust. The next day the MT engineers met in the same conference room to witness the shuttle launch, only to watch exactly what they had warned against happen. Phil Bonesteele FileNet Corp. Costa Mesa, CA