Challenger and Chernobyl Lessons and Reflections

Abstract

The primary cause of the Challenger accident was the failure of O-ring seals in the solid rocket booster, a subcomponent which had been known to be faulty for some time. When Hans Mark was the most senior engineering member of the NASA management executive team, he had asked for a complete review of these subcomponents; this was not done. The accident to the Chernobyl atomic reactor has not been publicly analyzed to the same extent as the Challenger explosion, and hence there must remain some speculation as to the detailed sequence of events. The lessons from both accidents are clear: faulty human understanding of the equipment and the lack of education, training and discipline were critical. The authors conclude that the Shuttle will fly again soon, and that political problems in the Soviet Union may be great and may force some changes.