Two prior shuttle missions had potentially mission-threatening failures because of the O-rings.ö (Greene, 2004). Both men suffered career setbacks as a result of their willingness to speak out, and Boisjoly now states that although he is still on the Morton Thiokol payroll, he is no longer working.
In a seven-part discussion of the Challenger disaster, Boisjoly details the steps that led up to the disaster. Leaks were discovered in the primary seal, then early evidence of a temperature effect. Boisjoly was at that point asked to ôsoften the urgencyö of the O-ring problem (Boisjoly, 1987). He became frustrated with the lack of management support, then alarmed when the temperature forecast for the Challenger flight indicated colder-than-expected temperatures for the
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