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"When he was pressed by NASA the night before the liftoff to sign a written recommendation approving the launch, he refused, and later argued late into the nigh
by mcdillon 15y ago
"When he was pressed by NASA the night before the liftoff to sign a written recommendation approving the launch, he refused, and later argued late into the night for a launch cancellation. When McDonald later disclosed the secret debate to accident investigators, he was isolated and his career destroyed."
This is quite simply astonishing; everything I have ever learned in my engineering classes said to do what McDonald did and look what happened to him.
- feralchimp 15y agoWhat's the statute of limitations on negligent homicide?
- joering2 15y agomay be slight offtopic, but this kind of news touches me. It shouldnt since NASA is a government agency and we all know how bureaucratic it can get, but for some reason NASA always stand to me as a well behave agency with strong morale. This is an exception from all other government entities. But this news proves my feeling were wrong.
- johngalt 15y agoHaving integrity would be easy if you never had to fight and the results always benefitted you. Life is not a fair thing. Engineers place a lot of emphasis on having the right answer and almost no emphasis on ensuring their influence. It doesn't matter how right you are if nobody will follow your direction.
- ScottBurson 15y agoYes, this to me is the most disturbing aspect of the story. It's one thing that the mistake was made in the first place; no one could be completely sure what would happen. But to then ostracize the people who warned of the possible catastrophe -- that's a corrupt culture.