Suggest readings re: Challenger disaster that cover the mngmnt issues @ NASA.

Cafe Society
1

So, I know I can find and sort through various books/articles, and I’ve read a few that have piqued my interest, but the danger is that they are too focused on technical issues around the Challenger explosion, or they just touch on the management issues/culture that were revealed to play a role at NASA.

But, since I respect Doper input, can you save me some time and recommend readings (books, articles, etc) that do a good job of covering enough of the tech bits while spending the proper am’t of time on the management culture at NASA?

The one that piqued my interest was about a particular woman manager at NASA who filtered out the engineers concerns. I can’t recall where I read it, and it was more than just about her (she was re-assigned at NASA).

Tech bits were relevant, but how she progressed through NASA and her management style were intriguing to me.

Anyway, just looking for some suggestions, and hoping my background info helps get you understanding what I am looking for.

:slight_smile:

2

The one I remember reading years ago was a book called No Downlink by Claus Jensen and Barbara Haveland. (Sorry, I haven’t worked out the complications of putting a link into my message, but it’s available from Amazon.) It covered a lot of the management side of things.

3

This fits the bill, Richard Feynman’s appendix F to the Rogers Comission report into the disaster. Feynman threatened to remove his signature from the report unless his own thoughts were published. It’s very readable, and cuts straight to the heart of the problem, the disconnect between the NASA management and engineers.

4

Reading through it again, it focuses more on the technical than the management issues. I think I was getting confused because I orginally read it in one of Richard Feynman’s biographical books, which does go into more detail about the background of the investigation, and therefore talks more about the management issues.

5

we just a read a xeroxed snippet during MBA class. from what i remember (we were all aghast) the relevant technical reports were, for the most part, submitted on time to the required respondents. and then… they were largely ignored. please don’t press, it’s my faulty memory.

6

I think I know which one you mean - it’s an essay about his Rogers Commission presentation on the topic, which mentions him grabbing a glass of ice water and putting an O-ring in it to show the effects of that day’s cold temps.

Edit: It looks like it was printed in the collection What Do You Care What Other People Think? and takes up the second half of the book.

7

“The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA”
Dianne Vaughan

Is a very good book about the specific culture surrounding the O-ring problems.

See also papers by Nancy Leveson for general management and safety management issues.

8

That’s the one thanks, a good read.

9

Great info so far. Point of clarification about the woman manager: That was Columbia and it was Linda Hamm.

The Challenger and Columbia investigation/readings are amazing, especially when compared/contrasted with each other.