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What did NASA do about its problem? Not much, even though boosters recovered after several flights showed O-ring erosion, indicating that the hot gases were reaching them and threatening to burn through the seal. NASA did ask its booster contractor, Morton Thiokol, to seek a solution. Thiokol set up a seal task force at its plant in Utah. This work received more attention after a shuttle was launched on Jan. 24, 1985, following the coldest overnight cape temperature of any flight to date: in the 20s. This launch produced the most extensive ring damage. Morton Thiokol concluded...
While the search for a fix proceeded, Bob Ebeling, manager of the booster- ignition system at Morton Thiokol, wrote a plaintive interoffice memo on Oct. 1, 1985, saying, "HELP! The seal task force is constantly being delayed by every possible means . . . The allegiance to the O-ring investigation task force is very limited to a group of engineers numbering 8-10 . . . We wish we could get action by verbal request, but such is not the case. This is a red flag...
Then came yet another bizarre twist in NASA's paper shuffle. The Marshall managers grew tired of dealing with so many open problems listed for the shuttle that they asked Morton Thiokol to try to winnow the items. Brian Russell, Thiokol's manager of special projects for the boosters, promptly filed a memo last Dec. 6 to the director of the solid-rocket project at Thiokol, recommending that the O-ring erosion be dropped from the critical- problems list. Mysteriously, an unsigned paper produced by Marshall's problem- assessment system declared that "this problem is considered closed...
...Pillsbury's answers to questions on a polygraph test. The case has also been referred to the Justice Department, apparently as a stern message about the Reagan Administration's resolve to plug leaks. Pillsbury's defenders suggest that he spoke out to influence policy, not jeopardize national security. Says Morton Halperin, legislative director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington office: "Leaking for policy reasons is an established Washington custom...
Like much in the New York theater these days, Lonely Street originated at a regional company, Atlanta's Alliance Theater, where Deer is literary manager. Director Stephens transferred with the show, as did Set Designer Mark Morton and half the cast. The production is impeccable, and in a season with a dearth of worthy British imports, the main stem must be grateful for an American "import" of this caliber...