The Columbia Accident: An Analysis of the Growth and Demise of Administrative Power
Overview
On February 1, 2003, seven astronauts perished as the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107) disintegrated over Texas upon reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere. During Columbia’s launch on January 16, 2003, a briefcase sized piece of foam insulation from the external fuel tank struck the left wing and led to much discussion amongst NASA administrators and engineers during the 16 day mission (Howell, 2013). The use and misuse of administrative power during these 16 days and prior to the launch of the fateful mission has produced many debates about what went right and what went wrong at NASA.
Background/History
In April of 1992, Daniel S. Goldin was appointed
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This was clearly demonstrated in the Columbia accident on the part of each key member of the Space Shuttle team. Sean O’Keefe wanted to carry on Daniel Goldin’s philosophy of “faster, better, cheaper” remaining consistent with President Clinton’s federal plan of maximizing the efficiency of the U. S. Government while reducing the economic burden to the taxpayers (Stillman & Casamayou, 2010). Unfortunately with that philosophy becoming the expectation rather than the goal, the allowances for delays in task completion were minimal. Managers did not want to hear about potential safety concerns that jeopardized shuttle launches or interfered with scientific research. Both of these issues were possible with the frequent “foam strikes” noted during shuttle launches. Unfortunately, when reading an e-mail from J. “Steve” Stich from Johnson Space Center Mission Control to Columbia Shuttle Commander Rick D. Husband, you find that this allowance had led to a change in the mentality of safety consciousness. Stich stated, “debris…came loose and subsequently impacted the orbiter left wing” (2003). He further stated that “Experts have reviewed… and there is no concern for RCC or tile damage.” This sounds promising to a crew that is in outer space and knows that damage to the RCC (Reinforced Carbon-Carbon) on the shuttle’s underside could surely mean catastrophic failure (Dumoulin, 2014). The problematic statement was “We have seen this same phenomenon on several other flights and there is absolutely no concern for entry” (Stich, 2003). This wasn’t the case as many engineers and safety managers did not agree with this assessment. They had even gone as far as to request satellite photographs of the hull of the Columbia to be obtained by the Department of Defense to rule out significant
Car Accident! The world would be more beautiful if their less or few car accidents. Now a days car accidents happens daily and sometimes they leave a big scratch in the heart if it end up by a death or a serious injury. Also, many thinks they are smart enough that they wont get into a accident because of their tricks in driving but in the end they find them self in a accident.
On December 22, 1996, at 1810 eastern standard time, a Douglas DC-8-63, N827AX, operated by ABX Air Inc. (Airborne Express) impacted mountainous terrain in the vicinity of Narrows, Virginia, while on a post-modification functional evaluation flight. The three flightcrew members and three maintenance/avionics technicians on board were fatally injured. The airplane was destroyed by the impact and a postcrash fire. The functional evaluation flight, which originated from Piedmont Triad International Airport, Greensboro, North Carolina, was conducted on an instrument flight rules flight plan and operated under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
Gina Meyers and Jill McDonough both illustrate a lack of control within the poems “Hold it Down” and “Accident, Mass. Ave.”. “Hold it Down” by Gina Meyers describes a long narrative of the problem, a lack of control, impossibilities and frustration in everyday life, while “Accident, Mass. Ave.” presents a narrative of a problem, a moment of loss of control, aggression and frustration in a single moment that happen on a specific day. Similarly the poems are long and include long enjambed lines disturbed by few short and small lines. Contrasting the poems are ordered and structured very differently.
Philip Tompkins' Organizational Communication Imperatives. INTRODUCTION In the book Organizational Communication Imperatives, by Philip K. Tompkins, we are introduced to a chapter that deals with an organization that is held under high prestige by not only those who are employed by it, but by a country as well. This American organization is NASA (National Aeronautical Space Administration), and although a very prestigious place to work, it is not free of its share of wrongdoing and counter productive ways. Ten years ago (1986), NASA was faced with its biggest catastrophe, the Challenger Explosion.
NASA has faced many tragedies during their time; but one can question if two of the tragedies were preventable by changing some critical decisions made by the organization. The investigation board looking at the decisions made for the space shuttle tragedies of the Columbia and Challenger noted that the “loss resulted as much from organizational as from technical failures” (Bolman & Deal, 2008, p. 191). The two space shuttle tragedies were about twenty years apart, they both had technical failures but politics also played a factor in to these two tragedies.
Rodney Rocha is a NASA engineer and co-chair of Debris Assessment Team (DTS). When possibility of wing damage appeared he requested an additional imagery to obtain more information in order to evaluate the damage. This demonstrates that he actually tried to resolve the issue. However, due to absence of clear organizational responsibilities in NASA those images were never received. Since foam issue was there for years and risk for the flights was estimated as low management decided not to proceed with this request. After learning of management decision Rocha wrote an e-mail there he stated that foam damage could carry grave hazard and have to be addressed. At the same time this e-mail was not send to the management team. Organizational culture at NASA could be described as highly bureaucratic with operations under standard procedures only. Low-end employees like Rocha are afraid to bring any safety-related issues to the management due to delay of the mission. They can be punished for bringing “bad news”. This type of relationship makes it impossible for two-way communication between engineers and managers, which are crucial for decision-making in complex env...
Two tragic incidents, the Challenger Space Shuttle crash of 1986, and the Three Mile Island near meltdown of 1979, have greatly devastated our nation. Both these disasters involved failures of communication among ordinary professional people, working in largely bureaucratic companies. Two memos called the “Smoking Gun Memos,” authored by R. M. Boisjoly, of Morton Thiokol, and D. F. Hallman, of Babcook and Wilcox, will always be associated these two incidents. Unfortunately, neither of these memos were successful in preventing the accidents of the Challenger and the Three Mile Island near meltdown.
The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster was one of the biggest space flight accidents and the result of a series of engineering failures. The Shuttle disintegrated after launch on its last mission, resulting in the death of its seven crew members. [1] The disaster happened on the Challenger program’s last launch on 28 January, 1986 at launch site Kennedy LC-39B. Later analysis showed that an O-ring, a seal on the right rocket boosted failed which was the cause of the accident. This incident is studied by engineers and organisations to see how effective communications can prevent engineering failures from causing catastrophic damages and how organisational ethics can be improved.
This resulted in an unidentifiable, asymmetrical stall and ultimately led to crash. The NTSB concluded that the separation of the left engine and pylon was caused by unapproved and incomplete maintenance procedures. In order to prevent a similar occurrence in the future, the FAA increased their observations of maintenance procedures and mandated that stall warning stick-shakers to be installed on both
Disappointment, disbelief and fear filled my mind as I lye on my side, sandwiched between the cold, soft dirt and the hot, slick metal of the car. The weight of the car pressed down on the lower half of my body with monster force. It did not hurt, my body was numb. All I could feel was the car hood's mass stamping my body father and farther into the ground. My lungs felt pinched shut and air would neither enter nor escape them. My mind was buzzing. What had just happened? In the distance, on that cursed road, I saw cars driving by completely unaware of what happened, how I felt. I tried to yell but my voice was unheard. All I could do was wait. Wait for someone to help me or wait to die.
There are many social problems that exist in the world today, which includes but do not limits to self-identity and racism. However, they somehow go unnoticed because at times people conform to what society thinks is the way to live. In my opinion, people believe they should act or feel a certain way because of what is broadcast on television, featured in magazines, and even brought into the limelight by celebrities. After viewing the movie Crash, in my opinion, the movie targets on going social problems that are constantly being swept under the rug to this present day. I deem Crash a race movie because it forces the audience to question their own moral values.
The pick-up bounced jarringly down the old dirt road. The driver sat up straight in the front seat, checking over her shoulder every few seconds to make sure that her cargo hadn't fallen out.
I always hear those old sayings. In the course of one day I can hear them about everything from retraining old dogs to getting up early. I think they make sense and I even ponder on some of them, but I never really thought one might mean as much to me, or become as realistic as it has become in my life. The clichés about telling those you love, how you feel, before it is too late and the ones about living every day like it is your last have an all new meaning to me.
Last year I got involved in a massive car accident. It was the most terrified part of life. It was the moment. I will never forget in my whole life. Before, I never realized how people really feel when a car accident happens.But,after this car accident I know what really it felt like. It was the moment. My mind was totally feared of driving. I was crushed by the hot metal and cold dirt of car. I was not feeling my arm,my body was numbed.It was felt like my lower body pressed down with monster force. All I could feel was the noise of car accident ringing in my ear.I was barely able to move my body. I was kept thinking. What my parents going to think about this? Where is my friend John? I looked through the window and saw the cars passing by
Accidents happen all the time whether we know it or not. Some could possibly be avoided and others may not. I was a young girl, who didn’t truly grasp the concept of life and death. Every time I was upset about something, I would think about ending my own life. However, through one horrifying incident, that silly thought of mine completely vanished. Thanks to that specific mishap, the way I perceived life and death has in turn, changed entirely anew.