Nasa Management : The Columbia Space Shuttle

Baskin, Robert E. "10 Years after Shuttle Columbia Tragedy, Crew's Kids, Spouses Still Struggle ..." Dallas Morning News. N.p., 13 Jan. 2013. Web. 5 Feb. 2013

Seventy three seconds into its 10th flight, on January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, killing the seven crew members on board [1]. The Challenger was the second space shuttle constructed by NASA and had completed nine successful missions prior to the disaster. Following the accident, the shuttle program was suspended for 32 months as President Ronald Regan appointed a Commission, chaired by William P. Rogers and known as the Rogers Commission, to investigate the cause of the accident [1].

On January 28, 1986, a day that was supposed to be filled with excitement and exploration, suddenly turned into a day filled with tragedy and sadness. The space shuttle Challenger was supposed to carry a seven member crew into orbit with one unique member along for this particular mission. Christa McAuliffe was supposed to be the first teacher to go into space as a member of the Teacher in Space Project. Due to this occasion, the media coverage and the number of viewers of this mission was extensive, particularly in schools across the nation. The Challenger lifted off shortly after 11:30 A.M., but tragically only seventy three seconds after takeoff it exploded sending debris and the seven crew members back to earth and into the Atlantic

On the morning of January 28th, 1986, Americans watched in shock and horror as the space shuttle Challenger exploded only 74 seconds after its launch, killing all seven crew members on board including a high school teacher Christa McAuliffe. Thousands, including families of the crew and schoolchildren

The case study of the two shuttle disasters, the Challenger occurred on January 28th 1986, and the Columbia occurred on February 1st, 2003. Both majestic and yet mournful due to the loss of life on both mission. The Challenger shuttle flight, OV-099 mission STS-51-L, broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of all crew members which included five astronauts and two payload specialists. The Challenger disaster was especially traumatic because young students watched television that were placed in their classrooms so they could watch the launch that day. It was fascinating that a school teacher was on-board as a payload specialist (NASA, 1986.) With a school teacher aboard the flight, it had sparked many interests because at several at young age, understood that education was vital as to why there was such a failure and prevent future disasters.

It holds true that government organizations gradually decline; the enthusiasm is replaced with bureaucracy, employees are resistant to change and overall performance is decreased. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is no exception to this. NASA is an example of bureaucracy having a detrimental effect on an organization. The lines of communication became skewed and were often broken while the organization was locked in an internal battle over who exactly was in charge. While there were heads of each department and heads of each branch, critical information often slipped through the cracks. It was this breakdown in communication and the failure to address known issues that was the direct cause for both the Challenger and Columbia explosions. The explosions, though separated by seventeen years, were incredibly similar. Concerns had been brought to the table and similarly dismissed as “acceptable risk.” This acceptable risk proved fatal for the crews of both space shuttles. Bureaucracy and financial expediency led to reduced federal funding, general distrust from the public, and growing disinterest. The organization that sent men to the moon is vastly different than the organization in charge today. NASA’s beginnings were less clouded in red tape and bureaucratic policies. Ideas were

On the morning of Janurary 28th 1986, the world witnessed in shock and horror what was known as the Challenger disaster as the space shuttle exploded only 73 seconds after its launch, killing all seven crew members onboard including one teacher Christa McAuliffe. Approximately 17 percent of Americans watched the live broadcast of this launch, many of them schoolchildren including those from McAuliffe’s school. From this grave moment emerged an exigency that demands immediate action by the president. Later on that same day, President Ronald Reagan delivered his Challenger address to the nation.

It occurred on January 28, 1986, when shuttle disintegrated 73 seconds after takeoff leading to death 7 crew members. Some of them died due to explosion and some of them due to impact with ocean. Disintegration of the vehicle began after an O-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster failed at lift off. The O-ring failure caused a breach in the joint it sealed, allowing pressurized hot gas from within the solid rocket motor to reach the outside and impinge upon the adjacent attachment hardware and external fuel tank. This led to the separation of the right-hand attachment and the structural failure of the external tank. Due to this shuttle was thrown sideways into the Mach 1.8 wind stream and broke

Mission STS-107, left Earth for the last time on January 16, 2003. The seven-member crew that included: Rick Husband, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, William McCool, and Ilan Ramon never safely returned. I am writing you to voice my concerns over systematic organizational problems within NASA which led to this catastrophe. The way NASA is structured, as well as its culture, will continue to create a hazardous safety work environment until the issues are addressed. I have a few recommendations below that may assist you in your endeavors to revamp NASA’s organizational structure and culture.

There are many astronauts who have taken that step to try and exit Earth’s atmosphere. Most have flown to space and returned to the ground with no problems at all. There are also those who have not been so lucky. Of these space missions, was one of the most anticipated flights in the history of NASA. On January 28, 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger was supposed to be the first flight to orbit Earth with a school teacher onboard. Many of the schools around the country were watching the televised launch of Space Shuttle Challenger and its crew of eight. However, just over 1 minute into the launch something went wrong. What happened to the Shuttle Challenger?

NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA is a United States government agency that is responsible for science and technology related to air space. Space age started in 1957 with the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik and NASA was created in 1958. NASA was created to oversee U.S. space exploration and aeronautics research. NASA’s purpose today is to reach for new heights and reveal the unknown so that what we do and learn will benefit all humankind. NASA mainly sends astronauts to orbit conduct scientific research, and many other things help scientists today better understand space. Satellites help scientists learn more about Earth and pace probes study the solar system and beyond that. Today NASA is working

It was the Columbia’s 28th mission, which was originally scheduled to launch two years ago, on 11th of January, 2001, but was delayed 13 times due to different missions took priority in the two years period. On 16th January at 1210 a.m., a problem with the external tank attachment ring had discovered. Due to this fault, the ring plate might not meet the safety factor requirement of 1.4, ‘that is, able to withstand 1.4 times the maximum load expected in operation.’(CAIB 2003 p.33). Then, based on Columbia space shuttle had delayed for too long, the safety factor requirement was waived. The active manager of the launch team then gave a GO signal to the space shuttle. At 57 seconds after launched, Columbia received a wind shear which increased the aerodynamic force on the external tank. It might be one of the reasons that leads to the

The main culprit of the Columbia disaster was a piece of foam that had fallen off during launch and hit the shuttle causing damage. Throughout nearly all of NASA’s historic missions there have repeatedly been instances of foam strikes to shuttles that were taken seriously. However, as foam strikes occurred frequently during missions they were put down as an acceptable risk and a “in family” event. This way of thinking made NASA’s organizational environment very lenient towards foam debris damage in missions. NASA’s history and how they dealt with foam strikes ended up bringing in an environment to the organization that looked at the foam strike in the Columbia shuttle as standard, which ended up dooming the mission. Another reason NASA’s Columbia

On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia was destroyed and the lives of all seven of its crew were lost. Within 2 hours of the loss of signal from the Columbia, a commission was formed to investigate, thanks to procedures that had been established following the Challenger disaster 17 years prior. That commission, known as the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB), conducted an extensive process of diagnosis of the causes of the Columbia disaster. The Commission's report concluded that the loss of Challenger was caused by a failure of the joint and seal between the two lower segments of the right

On January 28, 1986, hundreds of spectators on the ground and millions of Americans watching on television witnessed the disaster of space shuttle Challenger. The space shuttle Challenger broke apart after 73 seconds it was launched killing all seven crew members aboard, including Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from New Hampshire. Christa McAuliffe was chosen from thousands of candidates and planned to teach lessons from space to children of school age around the country.