#15: The Challenger Launch Decision (1986)
On the frigid morning of January 28, 1986, NASA managers made a fatal choice. They decided to launch the Space Shuttle Challenger despite warnings from their own engineers. The concern was the cold. Engineers at Morton Thiokol, the contractor for the solid rocket boosters, argued that the sealing rubber O-rings in the booster joints could fail in the low temperatures. Their voices were overruled. Just 73 seconds after liftoff, an O-ring failed as predicted. A plume of hot gas burned through the external fuel tank, and Challenger broke apart in the sky. All seven crew members were lost.
