When the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986, millions of Americans became bound together
in a single, historic moment. Many still vividly remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when
they heard about the tragedy. In The Challenger Launch Decision, Diane Vaughan recreates the steps leading up to
that fateful decision, contradicting conventional interpretations to prove that what occurred at NASA was not skullduggery
or misconduct but a disastrous mistake.
Journalists and investigators have historically cited production problems and managerial wrong-doing as the reasons
behind the disaster. The Presidential Commission uncovered a flawed decision-making process at the space agency
as well, citing a well-documented history of problems with the O-ring and a dramatic last-minute protest by engineers
over the Solid Rocket Boosters as evidence of managerial neglect.
Why did NASA managers, who not only had all the information prior to the launch but also were warned against it,
decide to proceed? In retelling how the decision unfolded through the eyes of the managers and the engineers, Vaughan
uncovers an incremental descent into poor judgment, supported by a culture of high-risk technology. She reveals
how and why NASA insiders, when repeatedly faced with evidence that something was wrong, normalized the deviance
so that it became acceptable to them.
No safety rules were broken. No single individual was at fault. Instead, the cause of the disaster is a story not
of evil but of the banality of organizational life. This powerful work explains why the Challenger tragedy must
be reexamined and offers an unexpected warning about the hidden hazards of living in this technological age.
Table of Contents
List of Figures and Tables
Preface
1: The Eve of the Launch
2: Learning Culture, Revising History
3: Risk, Work Group Culture, and the Normalization of Deviance
4: The Normalization of Deviance, 1981-1984
5: The Normalization of Deviance, 1985
6: The Culture of Production
7: Structural Secrecy
8: The Eve of the Launch Revisited
9: Conformity and Tragedy
10: Lessons Learned
Appendix A. Cost/Safety Trade-Offs? Scrapping the Escape Rockets and the SRB Contract Award Decision
Appendix B. Supporting Charts and Documents
Appendix C. On Theory Elaboration, Organizations, and Historical Ethnography
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Subjects: Sociology: Collective Behavior, Mass Communication
History: American History