Word: nasa
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...following year, NASA granted Rockwell a second contract, this one worth $2.6 billion. Soon after, Myers returned to a high management position at Rockwell. Today, Dale Myers has switched his loyalties again. Last September Ronald Reagan appointed him deputy administrator of NASA, the agency's number two position...
McConnell also suggests that NASA's overworked employees unwittingly contributed to the disaster. They--and by extension the Challenger crew--were the victims of unrelenting stress and abominable working conditions...
...nearly a month before the Challenger launch, no important shuttle manager or technician had a single day off. Ten and fourteen-hour days were commonplace. One NASA doctor even told McConnell that heroin, cocaine and hallucinogens were "readily available" on shop floors...
...McConnell stops short of blaming NASA employees for the disaster; indeed, his book is dedicated to them. Rather, he deplores the overwhelming pressure placed on them by their superiors--in NASA and, possibly the White House--which all but forced them to make mistakes...
...memorable scenes from the second half of the book is his portrayal of a teleconference which took place the night before the launch between engineers at Morton Thiokol, makers of the shuttle's solid rocket boosters, and NASA officials. Thiokol's engineers spent almost an hour explaining why they believed that cold temperatures at Cape Canaveral would impair the performance of their now infamous O-rings. The Thiokol engineers voted unanimously to recommend against launching...