Portfolio Project: The Challenger and Columbia Shuttle Disasters Introduction While driving frantically through the lush farmland of the Livermore Valley to rescue a 9-year who, along with her classmates had just witnessed the destruction of the Challenger on live television, the question of why was all consuming. Growing up in the sixties and witnessing the moon landing led many to believe NASA was infallible. However, nearly twenty years before Challenger, this proved untrue, as the dangers of space travel were tragically demonstrated when the crew of the Apollo 1 died in an onboard fire during a test run (Howell, 2012). Following the Challenger tragedy, President Reagan (1986, para. 8) stated, ‘We will never forget them, nor the last …show more content…
While root cause analysis of both sentinel events revealed mechanical and debris problems as causative factors, the underlying problem was much worse—NASA’s lax safety oversight and slipshod management. These findings uncovered what dozens, and likely lucky, successful missions had hid from the public. The country mourned the first tragedy, but demanded change, which made the loss of Columbia for similar reasons so stunning. Therefore, much of this paper concentrated on change resistance, as the inability to change organizations is usually attributed to the difficulties in changing people. Despite the distractions, leadership must push through this resistance or risk irrelevance in the marketplace. It is for good reasons, organizations use the lessons of the Challenger and Columbia disasters in all levels of leadership as a warning of the potential for harm when budget constraints, tight schedules, and deadlines allow flawed reasoning and egos to undermine safety and the decision-making
While seated in the Oval Office of the White house, January 28, 1986 President Ronald Reagan delivers his speech The Challenger Disaster; hours after the space shuttle The Challenger explodes while in take off. Thousands witnessed this horrifying event live in person and on television. This mission was very unique allowing the first civilian to ever be allowed in space during a mission. She was aboard The Challenger as an observer in the NASA Teacher in Space Program. Ironically, nineteen years before this disaster, three astronauts were tragically lost in an accident on the ground. President Reagan remembers those astronauts that were lost not only the day of the disaster, but also those who were lost nineteen years before. He conducts
In “Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger” by President Ronald Reagan, one of the main ideas is the failed space mission that caused the deaths of astronauts. Even though these risks and the outcomes of these risks differ, they all teach essential lessons. In “A Kenyan Teen’s Discovery: Let There Be Lights to Save Lions” the speaker
"Give me a challenge and I'll meet it with joy.” Ronald Reagan described the five astronauts and two payload specialists who died in the Challenger explosion, about six hours after the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds into its launch. Ronald Reagan’s Address to the Nation would be broadcasted on television and radio nationwide. In this speech, Reagan tells us that this is a day to remember and mourn the loss of the brave challenger crew. Reagan argues that we are pioneers on space travel, and while this is a tragic loss, we must continue to expand our knowledge of space and keep exploring the “Final Frontier.”
To highlight a real world example, President Ronald Reagan’s “Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger Address to the Nation” speech represents an elegant expression of both mourning and reassurance following a traumatic experience. On January 28, 1986, the President delivered this poignant yet encouraging address to a heartbroken nation. The citizens of America were distressed over the recent morning Challenger shuttle explosion. Thus, it was Reagan’s ultimate objective to soothe a grief-stricken, deeply anguished people. The President understood the precarious position the United States’ space program balanced upon; therefore, his speech additionally aims at protecting NASA’s dependable status and unrestricted capabilities within the country.
An overarching distinction in the perceptions of managing change is the desire to either control or shape change outcomes. The images are further differentiated based on assumptions about the degree to which change managers influence change outcomes. Palmer, Dunford, and Akin (2009) state that these images guide change leaders in certain directions as they make sense of events unfolding around them. The caretaking image, as an ideal, maintains a controlling view of management, but also recognizes that control is acutely limited by numerous internal and external forces (Palmer and Dunford, 2008). Consequently, change unfolds independently of managers’ intentions and the objective is to “shepherd” the organization to the best of their ability (Palmer, Dunford, and Akin, 2009). In this vein, NASA took on the caretaking image in its tolerance for and eventual normalization of safety hazards. Moreover, this image can be perceived in NASA’s assumption that nothing could be done to repair the space shuttle Columbia or prevent the disaster that occurred upon its return. Palmer, Dunford, and Akin (2009) state that the director image deflects organizations’ attention away from whether outcomes are achievable. Indication of the directing image, which views management as control and intended outcomes as achievable, can be found in NASA’s commitment to an unrealistic launch schedule while sacrificing
The challenger disaster called for certain changes in the NASA organizational structure, culture and operations. The Rogers Commission carried out a full investigation into the causes of the disaster and recommended to NASA certain actions to mitigate future incidents. First of all, there was a creation of a Solid Rocket Motor Joint redesign team who would also analyse the sealing system (NATA Technical Reports Centre, 2010).
“Live and learn”: a classic saying that applies to everyone and everything. Sometimes people mess up on small things but, other times one flaw could lead to a huge mistake that people must learn from. NASA’s Challenger was no exception to this saying. Many lives were lost on the space shuttle including a teacher from Concord. However, this tragedy holds a story worth being told.
During the year of 1986, on January the twenty sixth, a horrific shock was felt around the country. After Neil Armstrong’s landing on the moon, Americans felt a great sense of national pride and invincibility but many Americans learned on that fateful day that nobody is invincible; one of the worst catastrophes of the United States space program occurred on that day. About forty five seconds after liftoff, Americans witnessed the destruction of the breathtaking challenger space shuttle. Even though the disaster caused nationwide sadness, the reasons for its failure are clear. Named after the British ship that sailed across the Atlantic hundreds of years, could carry more than two thousand pounds the challenger was truly a glorious achievement.
January 28, 1986 was meant to be a day of joy and happiness, but turned into one of the most devastating events in history. The Challenger’s lift off was scheduled for January 22nd at Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral, Florida), but was delayed mainly because of weather conditions. It was delayed for several days until January 28th. The weather conditions were still miserable, but NASA only detained it two additional hours. The crew was patiently waiting for departure. Sharon Christa McAuliffe was going to be the first teacher in space. Ellison S.
Nineteen years ago, seventy-three seconds after liftoff, the space shuttle Challenger exploded and three astronauts lost their lives in a terrible accident on the ground. “ The Space Shuttle ‘Challenger’ Tragedy Address”, delivered by President Ronald Reagan, on 28 January 1986, at the White House, in Washington, D. C. He spoke about the terrible tragedy of the shuttle Challenger, where the nation lost three astronauts. Reagan talk about the mourning and remembering of three legends. He discussed the seven challengers and essentially discourses to the American public and families of seven challengers about the misfortune while comforting, commemorating, and inspiring audiences, especially school children by the use of rhetoric.
for many Americans. If you ask anyone who was alive at the time, they could
With seven ‒ novice as well as seasoned ‒ astronauts on board, they were going to space to deploy a satellite “into orbit to observe Halley’s comet”(“The Space Shuttle Challenger Accident” 256). The first affirmation of a problem was gray smoke, this was detected 678 seconds into flight. Shortly after the smoke there was a small flame and “at 73 seconds, the Challenger reached an altitude of 46,000 feet and exploded”(“The Space Shuttle Challenger Accident” 256). That evening, President Ronald Reagan said: “We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them this morning as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye”(“The Space Shuttle Challenger Accident” 256). Five months later, in June 1986, it was conjectured “that a fuel leak through faulty rubber O-rings that sealed joint sections of the rocket booster caused the accident”(“The Space Shuttle Challenger Accident”
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.
In President Ronald Reagan’s speech, he addresses the situation that occurred between the space shuttle and the Challenger 7 crew at the State of Union. He helped the American public who were sad, confused and shocked about what was going on. The speech was meant to try and make people feel better and to strictly state that the space program will continue at NASA. The Challenger 7 were heroes and they did brilliant work at NASA due to their bravery and courage. In his speech, he used the tone of anguished, proud and uplifting in order to help comfort people to have faith in the American space program after this tragedy.
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].