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In memoriam Roger Boisjoly. — Transcript

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0:00hi this is Corey Franklin with
0:01remembering the past the show where we
0:03talk about people who've died recently
0:04who've had a profound effect on our
0:06history our society or our culture and
0:09tonight the entire program is devoted to
0:11Roger boal Roger boal died at the age of
0:1474 recently and he was an engineer at
0:17Morton thol who was a critical person in
0:20the Challenger disaster in 1986 Roger
0:24boet was a modern-day Cassandra the
0:26explosion after liftoff of the Space
0:28Shuttle Challenger caused the death of
0:30Seven astronauts the cause of the
0:32explosion was the failure of O-rings to
0:34seal on the space shuttle and Roger Bo
0:38was the engineer who realized that the
0:40O-rings would not seal at cold
0:41temperatures the temperatures at which
0:43the shuttle was launched on their
0:44January day for his work he won a prize
0:48for scientific freedom and
0:49responsibility by the American
0:51Association for the advancement of
0:53science but this was slim consolation
0:55for him because he could not prevent the
0:57actual disaster even though he predicted
0:59it and he was actually blackballed after
1:01the fact by Morton thall in NASA and his
1:05story is a tragic cautionary Tale the
1:07classic whistleblower dilemma I'm going
1:10to let him introduce it with a talk he
1:12gave on scientific ethics and then it
1:15will be carried through by the
1:16television program Challenger countdown
1:18to disaster which features some
1:20Recreations of him some live interviews
1:23with him the other main character is
1:25Richard Fineman a Nobel prizewinning
1:27scientist who is on the Rogers
1:28commission that investigat the
1:30Challenger disaster his words are based
1:32on the actual words he said during the
1:33commission report and his role is a
1:35recreation program begins with an
1:37introduction by Roger boal and then
1:39starts with him noticing o-ring damage
1:42on earlier space shuttle flights before
1:45I
1:46start I want to preface with a remark
1:48I'm going to show you the NASA feed
1:51video of the launch that was piped to
1:54all the contractors on the program I
1:55have to tell you it's the first time I
1:57actually saw a launch from my facility I
2:00didn't even know it was viewable for my
2:03facility I was about doing the business
2:06on the program for my whole
2:08career and uh this is the only one I
2:11actually saw from my
2:12PL but before I show it to you I want to
2:15press upon you several things and
2:17although this may sound like a crash
2:19statement it's not meant to be so the
2:21challenge of story and use as a case
2:23study to help students understand what's
2:26going to be coming up especially it's
2:28not about the death as and I know that
2:31sounds horrible but it's not about that
2:34that was a horrible horrible culmination
2:37of the event itself seven exceptional
2:39people forfeited their lives for such an
2:41irresponsible law Sy it's also not about
2:45the loss of over2 billion dollar worth
2:48of
2:49hardw what it's about is Professionals
2:52in the system who had the authority and
2:55responsibility and fiduciary interest to
2:58do the right thing and they abdicated
3:01that they abdicated that because they
3:03were pressured to do so by the agency
3:06called NASA as you will hear as the
3:09story unfolds the space shuttle program
3:11is in full swing one year from now NASA
3:14plans to launch Challenger at the
3:16engineering plant of Morton thol a NASA
3:19contractor in Utah Roger B discovers the
3:22primary o-ring has failed aut flight STS
3:2551b despite the O-ring damage NASA
3:27continues its launches as the summer
3:30progresses Roger Bo is still trying to
3:32have his concerns taken seriously on the
3:35rocket booster segments the joints
3:37between each segment have to withstand
3:39the vast forces produced during
3:42blastoff each segment is sealed against
3:45the next segment with two rubber seals
3:47called
3:49O-rings for the rocket boosters to work
3:51the joints have to function
3:54perfectly part of Roger Bo's job is to
3:57make sure they do 3 days after Mission
4:00STS 51c lands ojal starts his inspection
4:03of the joints even 20 years later the
4:06surprise at what he found that day is
4:08still Vivid in his
4:09mind I went around and on the first
4:13booster I found on one of the joints Hot
4:16Gas massive amount of hot gas from
4:19propulsion had actually compromised the
4:21primary o-ring so I thought my God we
4:25came within about 8 or 10 seconds of
4:27failure the O-rings are design designed
4:29to form a seal against the superheated
4:31rocket exhaust gases that are produced
4:33at incredible pressure during
4:35[Music]
4:37launch the first o-ring should do the
4:41job the second o-ring is a safety
4:45backup O's photos of flight 51 C's
4:48joints reveal hard evidence there is a
4:50major design
4:52flaw he discovers that hot gas has
4:55blasted past the first ring and burned
4:57the second backup o-ring why
5:00instantly in my mind thought oh this has
5:03to be caused by the cold weather that
5:06precede this launch boet immediately
5:09hones in on the one thing that made
5:11flight 51c different the temperature
5:14postflight analysis showed the O-rings
5:16were 53° F unusually cold for a launch
5:21the O-rings are supposed to be flexible
5:24on launch they squeeze and stretch to
5:26seal the Gap but on flight 51c the Dual
5:29o system
5:30malfunctioned the primary seal did not
5:33work and Hot Gas escaped luckily the
5:35second o-ring caught the leak if it
5:38hadn't the result might have been far
5:39more
5:41dangerous the next day boal reports his
5:44findings to NASA together NASA and
5:47Morton thol conclude that the condition
5:49is not desirable but acceptable shuttle
5:51launches continue but boal and his
5:53colleagues run further tests the results
5:56are shocking to their surprise they
5:59discovered that the O-rings could also
6:01be ineffective even at room temperature
6:03Bo takes his findings to his boss when
6:06we went to our manager who was my boss
6:09and told him about this he said this
6:11material was too sensitive to release to
6:13anybody so he kept it secret do you have
6:16any idea you have any idea what that
6:18does to somebody who's trying to put
6:21flight safety first and foremost on the
6:24program and to have a manager do that to
6:27you throughout 198 5 NASA has a very
6:31ambitious launch schedule flight 51c is
6:34the first of nine planned launches and
6:37the pressure is on to keep the shuttle
6:39flying any delays would ultimately cost
6:41money and jobs were at stake they didn't
6:44want to hear because I
6:46believe they wanted to
6:49ensure for the company they would get
6:51the follow on contract that was in
6:53negotiations with NASA at that point in
6:55time that contract was worth over a
6:58billion dollars
7:00as the weeks pass Bo's frustration at
7:03the lack of action continues to eat away
7:05at him Bo requests a Tas Force to
7:08investigate how to fix the problem his
7:10memos become increasingly desperate and
7:12aggressive in tone subject SRM erosion
7:17possible failure
7:20criticality this letter is written to
7:23ensure that management is fully aware of
7:26the seriousness of the current o-ring
7:29erosion problem it is my honest and very
7:32real fear that if we do not designate a
7:36team to solve the problem with the field
7:39joint having the highest priority that
7:42we stand in Jeopardy of losing a flight
7:44Bob did you read my memo the o- Rings
7:47Bob I I I really feel there's some
7:49urgency here but the erosion was pretty
7:52bad after the last flight I'll leave it
7:54with
7:57you while Bo struggles to be heard NASA
8:00has already announced the crew for the
8:02Challenger flight we were writing these
8:04memos to try and start a little flame
8:07underneath it to be able to get
8:10something done because we were concerned
8:13we were extremely concerned I think
8:16that's what those memos reflect they
8:19reflect frustration and concern Bo's
8:22tactics are beginning to alienate the
8:24management of Morton thol I have been
8:26described as a giant pain in the ass
8:29okay but the same people who described
8:31me that way were the same people who
8:33called me when they had a problem after
8:35they got to know who I was and what I
8:37could do in the experience I had
8:38throughout the spring of 1985 boal
8:41struggles to get Morton thol management
8:43to take his o-ring seal concerns
8:45seriously it was like I was talking to a
8:48solid piece of granite no
8:50response no reaction no emotion no
8:55anything we all knew that the joint was
8:57defective and we had no choice but to
8:59fly because that's what the managers
9:01insisted on and so it was our job to
9:04keep it flying as safe as possible but
9:05we didn't take that lightly oing is
9:07right it will only be a matter of time
9:10before something will fail on July 19th
9:131985 oal get some good
9:18news I uh thought you'd be pleased to
9:20hear we're putting together a task force
9:22he believes he can do something about
9:23the
9:25O-rings and we were thrilled and working
9:28our taals off try because we finally got
9:31a chance to do what we've been trying to
9:33get done now for about 5 and A2 years a
9:36few weeks later Bo's excitement with the
9:38task force is crushed one month one
9:42lousy month later we all realized that
9:46we had no power No Authority no
9:50resources and no management support well
9:53how in the heck can you get anything
9:54done if you don't have any of those
9:56items that I just mentioned you can't
9:59and the frustration was just absolutely
10:02going up minute by minute day by day the
10:05launch is rescheduled once again for
10:07Tuesday the 28th even though the weather
10:09forecast predicts extremely cold
10:11temperatures down in the low
10:1420s I first heard about the cold
10:16temperatures prior to the launch at 1:00
10:20on the day before the
10:21launch and from past experience it it
10:24just concerned me
10:27terribly and so we began to quite
10:29questioned the feasibility of launching
10:31at such a low
10:34temperature and we spent the rest of the
10:37day raising these questions the night
10:40before the launch there was a desperate
10:42struggle to stop Challenger from taking
10:45off the temperature the next day is
10:47predicted to be more than 10 below
10:50freezing a shuttle has never launched in
10:53temperature so low before and that's
10:55when it really hit the fan big time uh
10:58we rushed into a meeting and four or
11:00five of us decided that we're going to
11:02make an attempt to stop the launch the
11:04fact of the matter is O-rings don't work
11:06with a dam at freezing
11:08temperatures you don't have to be a
11:10rocket scientist to figure this out all
11:12you have to have is a monum of Common
11:15Sense boj and Thompson alert the
11:17management at Morton thall of the
11:19dangers posed by launching at such a
11:21cold
11:23temperature by early afternoon their
11:25bosses are
11:26convinced they get on the phone with
11:28NASA to voice their concern
11:30terms morn thol recommends against
11:33launching but NASA is reluctant to abort
11:36again unless there was hard
11:39evidence they need proof and want to
11:41scrutinize Morton th Call's oing Data
11:43before calling it off a conference call
11:45between Morton thall and NASA is planned
11:47for 8:15 p.m. Eastern Standard time we
11:50ran literally to our offices and
11:54basically rumag through reports and file
11:56cabinets just grab the current data and
11:59go
11:59go we had 45 lousy
12:03minutes to prepare for the most
12:06important technical meeting of our
12:09careers it was now quitting time
12:12everybody left we were on our
12:14own never before in history of space
12:16flight had them in a company stand up
12:18and try to stop a launch other
12:21anything I'm talking about unmanned as
12:24well as manned nobody no company's ever
12:27done that this is the moment Bo has been
12:29waiting for finally after a year of
12:32memos and calls he has a chance to be
12:35heard as they gather in the meeting room
12:37the Morton thool team are confident they
12:39will be able to stop the
12:41launch yes they know NASA would not go
12:45against a contractor's
12:47recommendation by 8:45 p.m. the call
12:49from NASA is connected launch is just 13
12:52hours away the success of this Mission
12:55and the lives of the Seven astronauts
12:57hang on one simple question
13:00how will the O-rings react to the cold
13:02temperatures predicted for launch the
13:04next morning at low temperatures the
13:06O-rings are not so elastic they won't
13:09seal properly it'll be like putting a a
13:14brick into a crack versus a
13:16sponge the grease too will be affected
13:20it will be thicker and not as
13:23slick we will have a higher o-ring
13:26actuation time and if that happens we
13:28will approach the threshold of secondary
13:31seal pressurization
13:33capability so we have a situation where
13:35neither the primary seal nor the
13:37secondary seal will function after half
13:40an hour the presentation is finished and
13:42Spirits among the engineers at Morton
13:44thol are high I'm a little confused by
13:48your presentation thall you're telling
13:51me that we can't launch under 53° yet
13:54your own data suggests that you had Blow
13:56by on the O-rings when we launched it
13:5975° the blowby was definitely worse at
14:03the lower
14:04temperature then Malloy asked for Morton
14:06th Call's launch
14:09recommendation their decision comes down
14:11to Joe
14:12kilminster I have maximum the 10%
14:15confidence that he's going to stand by
14:18what we went into the meeting with and
14:19that was everybody was totally
14:21supportive of not launching and much to
14:23my surprise kilmin answers and says so I
14:28guess our conclusions are that we should
14:31not fly outside of our database which is
14:3453° and metaphorically inside of my body
14:37I went yes and I was absolutely on top
14:42of the
14:43world that lasted for about 10 seconds
14:48the engineers at Morton thall are
14:50confident NASA will stop the Challenger
14:52launch they now wait for the official
14:55response for God's sake Morton F call
14:58when do you want me to launch next April
15:01you guys are generating new launch
15:03criteria
15:06here
15:08Joe we have been flying for 4 years with
15:12a known condition in these joints
15:14considered and accepted by thol accepted
15:17by me and all levels of NASA management
15:21think about
15:22this think about your data to the late
15:25person that might not mean much but to
15:27us inside in the program fully
15:29knowledgeable what's going on those are
15:32metaphorical buzzwords for you screwing
15:34up my launch schedule only NASA can
15:37postpone a launch all Morton thol can do
15:39is make a recommendation now Larry
15:41Malloy at Kennedy ask George Hardy at
15:43Marshall for his opinion when George
15:45speaks everybody listens because George
15:48is one of the most highly recognized
15:51engineer managers on the
15:54program di call I am appalled but I
15:58won't go against the
15:59contractor in that case I can't
16:01recommend launch it's the second no vote
16:05because he would not overrule the
16:07contractor but it's also something else
16:11and he said he was appalled that was a
16:13killer absolute killer with their next
16:16multi-million dollar contract still
16:17under negotiation with NASA the morn
16:19thol managers are under intense pressure
16:22at this point senior Vice President
16:24Gerald Mason
16:25[Music]
16:27intervenes Joe
16:29ask him going can take a 5 minute caucus
16:31offline we have to make a management
16:34decision let's look over the data again
16:37and consider Larry malloy's
16:39points if we launch at the predicted
16:42temperatures we are out of our
16:44experience base even if we take 40° as
16:48the temperature floor we are still way
16:51out of our database and launching at
16:53these low temperatures we are moving
16:56away from goodness to the engineer
16:59dismay the managers ignore them and hold
17:01a private conversation it's clear the
17:03managers are changing their minds I am
17:06so angry and so mad and so frustrated
17:09that I slam the photographs down and I'm
17:11screaming at them cuz I saw what they
17:13did to Arie to look at
17:15them avoid what they're telling us it's
17:18very the lower the temperature the more
17:21hot gas gets past the joint as you see
17:24in this photograph of the January 1985
17:27flight by angry Al picked up the
17:29photographs and returned to my position
17:31at the table and I basically put my head
17:33down on my arms and I didn't I just I
17:36was I was I was so close to losing it
17:40let's take a vote do we recommend a
17:42launch every stinking piece of data we
17:45had 14 charts one of which was the title
17:48page pointed to a reason not to launch
17:52you can't launch with this data it's
17:54impossible the vice president of
17:56engineering is on the fence and now he's
17:58being pressed to change his mind Bob you
18:01have to take off your engineering hat
18:04and put on your management hat our
18:06position is that although temperature
18:10effects are a concern the data
18:12predicting blowby are inconclusive are
18:16there any disagreements or any other
18:18comments concerning the thol
18:21recommendation at Nasa the silence means
18:24go for launch when I open the door from
18:28the garage to my house in
18:30will the first thing that my wife said
18:33to me is what's
18:35wrong I said oh nothing honey I said I
18:38had a great day but I says we ended it
18:40ended up in a meeting I says we're going
18:42to launch tomorrow and kill the
18:43astronauts but outside that it was that
18:44great day the temperature
18:49plummets the astronauts pass the time
18:51thinking that tomorrow will be another
18:53scrub out on the Launchpad icicles as
18:56long as 18 in are forming on the shuttle
18:59despite the low temperatures Challenger
19:02will launch the next
19:09[Music]
19:14morning
19:16jar big smiles today ready
19:20today the uh teacher Observer uh
19:25Christen moli has been handed an apple
19:27by the uh close out
19:30through good hope we go
19:34today the temperature hits
19:3636° 30° colder than any previous shuttle
19:40long 2 1 and lift
19:44off the 25th Mission and it is
19:50toling up three now
19:53104% throttle
19:5915 seconds
20:00velocity I was sitting there and the
20:03vehicle ignites and clears the launch
20:05Tower and I turned the Bob and Whisper
20:07looks like we dodged the Bullet cuz we
20:10had all expected it to blow up in the
20:11pad cuz that's what the propelling
20:13experts and Engineering had told us FL
20:15controllers here looking very carefully
20:16at the situation obviously a major
20:20[Music]
20:22malfunction we have a report from a
20:24flight Dynamics officer that the vehicle
20:26has exploded by director confirms that
20:29President Reagan cancels his State of
20:31the Union Address to speak to a shocked
20:35world the crew of space shuttle
20:37Challenger honored us for the manner in
20:39which they Liv their lives we will never
20:41forget them nor the last time we saw
20:44them this morning ladies and
20:48gentlemen I now would like to call this
20:51first meeting of the presidential
20:53commission on the space shuttle
20:55Challenger accident to
20:57order I
20:59want to start with just a couple of uh
21:01preliminary remarks as you know NASA
21:04presents the commission with various
21:06possible reasons for the shuttle failure
21:08Roger Bo is one of the engineers called
21:10to the hearings to explain how the solid
21:12rocket boosters
21:14operate according to Bo Morton th Call's
21:17lawyers have told him to answer
21:19questions but to not offer any extra
21:23information he decides not to be
21:26silenced my name is r boal and I'm in
21:30the structur
21:32section and I've been involved with
21:34these seals and the Rings basically
21:37since coming to thol some 5 and 1/2
21:39years
21:40ago NASA and Morton thol already suspect
21:43that the solid rocket boosters are
21:45somehow to blame boet tells the
21:47commission he knew a year ago that the
21:49O-rings and the solid rocket boosters
21:51can fail under some
21:53circumstances and that if the primary
21:55and backup O-rings both fail the whole
21:57launch system could explode it's a
22:00revelation to the commission but in
22:02hindsight it is no
22:04surprise the weekend after the start of
22:06the commission the New York Times breaks
22:08the story it just concerned me terribly
22:11and the O-ring was your concern
22:14yes pinan and his colleagues learn of
22:17the teleconference the night before
22:18launch between NASA and Morton fire call
22:21and that the engineers concerns were
22:23overruled they start to piece the
22:25evidence together it soon becomes clear
22:28that the engine Engineers warned about
22:29the extreme low temperatures and wanted
22:31to postpone the launch the commission
22:33focuses on the decisions made the night
22:35before the disaster first fan questions
22:38Robert lond the chief engineer at Morton
22:40thall could you tell me sir the names of
22:42your four top seal experts in order of
22:45their ability
22:47Roger
22:49B I think would be first what is your
22:52opinion Mr Bo about the seals about the
22:54decision that was made were you in
22:56agreement with the result of the caucus
22:58that decided it was okay to fly no I was
23:01not it's now clear to the commission
23:03that boet and Thompson's last minute
23:05attempts to stop the launch were
23:08overruled NASA's Senior Management made
23:10the final
23:12decision feineman is convinced that the
23:14engineers were right and that the cold
23:16is at the root of the problem with the
23:17media watching closely the Nobel Prize
23:20winner is about to use a high school
23:21experiment to demonstrate the Fatal
23:23design flaw if this material weren't
23:26resilient for say a second or to that
23:29would be enough to be a very dangerous
23:32situation yes sir I took this stuff that
23:36I got out of your seal and I uh put it
23:38in ice water and I discovered that when
23:42you put some pressure on it for a while
23:44and then undo it it it doesn't stretch
23:46back it stays the same dimension in
23:49other words for a few seconds at least
23:51there is no resilience in this
23:53particular material when it's at a
23:55temperature of 32°
23:59I believe that has some significance for
24:01our problems it is a memorable moment
24:04fineman's simple experiment has made the
24:05technical problem easy for everyone to
24:08understand what is not easy to
24:09comprehend is why NASA allowed
24:11Challenger to
24:12launch they knew the danger took a
24:15calculated
24:16risk and lost on May 2nd 1986 the
24:20presidential commission investigating
24:21the Challenger disaster comes to an end
24:23it finds that the cause of the explosion
24:25is the faulty design of the solid rocket
24:27booster joint
24:28combined with other factors primarily
24:31the effects of cold
24:32temperature the commission concludes
24:34that no one person is to blame Richard
24:38feinan is unhappy he believes the truth
24:41has been glossed over and insists that
24:43his own conclusions be added to the
24:45official report he states that NASA is
24:47not communicating effectively with its
24:49suppliers and failed to recognize the
24:51importance of the oing problem I don't
24:54think we've uncovered any Grand
24:55conspiracy theories here the truth is
24:58much simpler and what we found is that
25:00engineers and managers are not
25:02communicating effectively it might be
25:04that NASA is understating the risks to
25:06ensure the supply of government funds or
25:09they may simply believe that the shuttle
25:10is safer than their Engineers claim NASA
25:13owes it to the citizens from whom it
25:15asks support to be frank honest and
25:18informative so that these citizens can
25:20make the wisest decisions for the use of
25:22their limited resources for a successful
25:26technology reality must take press Ence
25:28over public relations because nature
25:31canot be fooled 2 years later Richard
25:34Fineman dies but with his work on the
25:36commission he has done his country one
25:38last great service no one at Nasa is
25:41held accountable for the disaster Roger
25:43Bo's testimony irreparably damages his
25:46relationship with his managers and his
25:48co-workers he leaves Morton th call just
25:50a few months after the commission
25:54hearings he never returns I did nothing
25:57wrong I did everything right along with
25:59my
26:01colleagues and we paid a horrific price
26:04and and uh that's
26:06unfair and I would do it again in
26:08heartbeat that's the story of Roger boal
26:11a modern day Cassandra he foresaw
26:13disaster he foretold disaster but he was
26:16incapable of preventing disaster Seven
26:19astronauts died in the Challenger
26:20accident in 1986 it's a memorable event
26:23in the lives of most of us and Roger
26:25boal was punished for being a
26:27whistleblower I want to thank my
26:29producer SIDS and in memory of the seven
26:31Challenger astronauts and Roger boal we
26:34will close tonight with a little of the
26:35funeral March from Pier gint by Edvard
26:38Greek
26:44[Music]

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