Apr 8 1986
From The Space Library
James R. Thompson, vice chairman of the NASA task force investigating the Challenger accident, said that NASA officials could be 'walking on the edge of a cliff' if they did not correct flaws in the Solid Rocket Booster. Previous problems, he noted, simply were not taken seriously enough; he then added that NASA could say conclusively that the right Solid Rocket Booster had caused the Shuttle accident. The task force, said Thompson, focused on four factors of the joint in the booster rocket: the tendency of the joints to rotate during liftoff; the impact of sub-freezing temperatures on the o-rings; defects in the putty used to protect them; and slight damage to the o-rings during assembly. James Kingsbury, director of Science and Engineering Directorate disagreed with Thompson's findings because the rockets had performed well on 24 previous flights. (USA Today, Apr 9/86; W Post, Apr 9/86; P Inq, Apr 9/86)
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