The Space Shuttle Challenger

Managerial Decision Making

The Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster

The day of the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster, there were many things at play -- and a number of them occurred before the actual day of the incident. These were decisions that were made by NASA and by the engineers at Morton-Thiokol, and they definitely affected what took place on the day the disaster occurred. The morning of the launch the weather was unusually cold, which affected the o-rings in the shuttle (Pinkus, 1997). The weather was discussed throughout the creation of the shuttle, and also the morning the shuttle was launched. There were more than 15 engineers who expressed their concerns regarding whether the o-rings in the shuttle would fail during launch because of the colder temperatures, but NASA wanted to go ahead with the launch after considering how long it might have to be postponed otherwise (Pinkus, 1997). There was no backup in play if the o-rings failed, and the shuttle would be destroyed. Although NASA was originally agreeable to waiting to launch, after they reconsidered they decided they did not want to wait until the weather was warmer (Pinkus, 1997).

The temperature was so cold that there was ice all over the launch pad, and that raised additional concerns. Ice had the potential to damage the shuttle during liftoff (Pinkus, 1997). Despite its ability to make it into space, the shuttle was actually quite delicate. Simple issues like ice or cold temperatures could damage the shuttle. There was a great deal of miscommunication that actually occurred between Morton-Thiokol and NASA, along with issues that were not addressed but that most likely should have been. One of those was that NASA was not informed that the actual manufacturer of the shuttle did not want it launched if there were icy conditions (Pinkus, 1997). Another issue was that Morton-Thiokol eventually reversed its decision under pressure from NASA and said that the launch should proceed (Pinkus, 1997).

The way the issue was framed may have had more to do with the problems that occurred than anything else. Issues have to be presented correctly in order for them to make sense to everyone involved and in order for them to be addressed in the right way (Bazerman & Moore, 2008). Too often, important issues are overlooked because people fail to realize that there are deeper concerns that are not being considered. When managers address problems, they have to frame them the right way, so anyone they communicate with sees the value of what they are trying to say and the goals they are attempting to reach (Bazerman & Moore, 2008). This was something that can and should have been done with the Challenger disaster, but that was not done. A significant number of lives were lost because of that, and that could have really been avoided with proper communication and framing techniques on the part of both NASA and the engineers at Morton-Thiokol. What happened with the shuttle that day was tragic, and many argued that it was unavoidable.