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Challenger
Feb. 1st, 2006 10:56 amThe Challenger disaster happened during the night, my time; I heard about it early the next morning from my mother, who'd probably heard it on the morning news. I think it might be the first time I can remember her looking shocked. It wasn't quite as awful a disaster to us in Australia as it was in the US - we didn't have the same buildup and coverage - but it was more than bad enough, and I don't think we talked about much else at school that day.
That was the sad part. But the tragic part is that Challenger's crew weren't killed by bad luck. They were killed by the same things that have been screwing up engineering projects since the dawn of time, among which the chief culprit has to be 'wishful thinking by managers who don't understand the science involved'. If you want to do something meaningful in memory of those astronauts, rather than lighting a candle... go ye and read Richard Feynman's appendix to the Rogers Commission Report on the Challenger disaster, and learn the lessons therein. (Links via![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sclerotic_rings.) If nothing else sticks, remember the last line:
For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.
That was the sad part. But the tragic part is that Challenger's crew weren't killed by bad luck. They were killed by the same things that have been screwing up engineering projects since the dawn of time, among which the chief culprit has to be 'wishful thinking by managers who don't understand the science involved'. If you want to do something meaningful in memory of those astronauts, rather than lighting a candle... go ye and read Richard Feynman's appendix to the Rogers Commission Report on the Challenger disaster, and learn the lessons therein. (Links via
sclerotic_rings.) If nothing else sticks, remember the last line:For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.
