Talk:Thiokol
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[edit] POV?
It seems POV and hardly fair to starkly say in the final section "This company made the O-rings responsible for the Challenger disaster" without any mitigating explanation. It's like saying "Bethlehem Steel made the plating which failed so dramatically in the Titanic disaster", or whichever steel company they came from. It would be somewhat less ridiculous to lay responsibility for the disaster at the feet of the captain, or the White Star Line; but still. It's a dangerous world we live in. It is especially dangerous to use a solid fuel rocket on a manned flight, much less TWO of them which doubles the chance that one will explode; and furthermore some of the largest solid-fueled rockets ever made.
I suppose I have a POV as well; that's why I'm putting this on the talk page. My father was in engineering, then engineering management, at Thiokol until 1978. He was firmly opposed to solid-fueled manned rocket flight. His feeling was that some day, the propellant will crack; some day, some other failure will occur. But he did his best on the Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) project, which was damned good.
I'm sure that when, not if, another SRB fails, the company that built it will get the blame as well...not the people who decided to strap a pair of them to a manned flight.
The O-rings, which become less flexible when cold, and the SRB as a whole, were required by NASA to function at temperatures down to 40 degrees Fahrenheit (+5 C). But the weather on the morning of the launch was extremely cold for that part of Florida. It been several degrees below freezing overnight, and there were still icicles on the launch platform at the time of launch. Near the region that failed, the temperature was measured at 26 degrees Fahrenheit (-4 C) shortly before launch. This was in part due to the low ambient temperature, and partly because of proximity to a mount connecting the booster to the main tank, which contained liquid hydrogen. No launch had ever been attempted in such conditions; the coldest temperature at any previous launch was a full 20 degrees F higher. That flight experienced partial O-ring failure, which alerted the Thiokol engineers (as well as NASA's) to a possible problem.
The night before the Challenger launch, Thiokol engineers conveyed their alarm to management. Management called a teleconference with NASA at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, and advised against the launch. MSFC's management response was, in essence, "Are you sure?" which in my mind is where the breakdown began. That's a crazy question to be asking when the contractor calls up and tells you the rocket they built might explode in cold weather well outside the design limits. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? In a sane world, with lives at stake, the builder has to demonstrate to the customer that the product has an excellent chance of working properly, not that it's likely to fail. Thiokol's answer was, in essence, "well...no..."; they had no definite proof (just some expert opinions. I'm not saying Thiokol management is blameless.) So the launch proceeded.
I've started typing and I can't stop...anyway, I'm planning to add some detail to the simple statement that Thiokol's O-rings failed. --Shyland 01:15, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
Put in the mitigating circumstance, I suppose. But people could get the mitigating circumstances by reading the references. The bottom line is that the cause of the crash was faulty O-rings and the manufacturer of the O-rings was Thiokol.70.91.104.249 01:25, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
- Thiokol built the SRB to NASA's spec: 40 to 90 degrees F. NASA launched on a morning when temperatures were well below spec, 20+ degrees below any previous launch, and even 15+ degrees below any previous test. NASA knew that Thiokol was working on a problem they had, even above spec. Who's to blame? --Shyland 01:40, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
Whether NASA or Thiokol are to blame for Challenger, I have a problem with "the Morton-Thiokol made O-rings". Later in that paragraph, it says that the rings were made of Viton, which is linked. Following the link says that Viton is a trademark of DuPont... Doesn't that mean that the O-rings were made by DuPont (probably as a subcontractor to Thiokol, but still)? Again, I'm not trying say "It's all NASA's fault!" (or even DuPont's), but saying the O-rings were made by Thiokol would seem to be an error. I would think the easiest way to fix the error would be to remove "Morton-Thiokol made". Unless it's a direct quote from the Rogers commission. edit: I did some research in the commission report. Thiokol did supply the O-rings, but who manufactured them isn't established (I'd assume DuPont). Maybe change made to supplied?74.93.204.1 (talk) 15:44, 14 March 2008 (UTC)
- Very good point. Unless someone can provide a source indicating Thiokol manufactured the O-rings, the article should only indicated Thiokol provided the O-ring that failed, which I think is not reasonably in doubt. Please check to see if the edit I made adequately addresses your concern. (sdsds - talk) 16:50, 14 March 2008 (UTC)
[edit] new job at Thiokol
Hello Thiokol, my name is Debbie Bohannan. Approximately 6 weeks ago I went to Heart of TexasWFC-Waco with only one goal in mind. I want to work for Huck (Thiokol). My Dad is Dave Cearley and he had such a great career and never spoke negatively about his copany. We, Mom my brother and I were very proud of him, Unfortunatley his health did not allow my Dad to do all that he wanted to accomplish at Thiokol but if you would give me a chance I could carry on for Dad and our family and most importantly me to be apart of a great company. I am 47 years old and I havee 20+ years of experience at telecommunications at SBC/AT&T. I have some education in that i attended Baylor Univ 09-1978 thru 05-1980. I also have taken a few continuing education courses at MCC during the 1990's. Personally I have been married to the love of my life for 25 years and we have 3 children. Our oldest Colby Bohannan is on his 2nd tour of duty with tht ARMY stationed near Baghdad. We have two daughters attending SFA in Nacogdoches,TX. I am a member of St. Mary's Church of the Assumption of West,Tx since 1980. I can always be reached by my cell phone 254 855-1731. You will not regreat it! ```` —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 4.225.175.211 (talk) 00:53, 26 February 2007 (UTC).
- Not the sharpest tool in the box though, are we? Tilefish 22:00, 22 August 2007 (UTC)
