The Challenger Explosion
Challenger Explosion relating to the Elements of Culture
MORE DECKS TO EXPLORE
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Untitled Slide
GOVERNMENT/POLITICS
THE MOST AFFECTED ELEMENT OF CULTURE ON SOCIETY AFTER THE DISASTER
Photo by Beverly & Pack
EVIDENCE/ANALYSIS 1
NASA, BEING THE ORGANIZATION BEHIND THIS PROJECT (A GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION), OBVIOUSLY MADE THE SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM GOVERNMENT-INVOLVED, AND SINCE PEOPLE DON’T ALWAYS TRUST THE GOVERNMENT, THEY WERE THEREFORE QUICK TO JUMP ON A FACT THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAD MESSED UP. SO, THE FACT THAT THIS PROGRAM THAT HAD THE FAULTY PARTS IN THE SHUTTLE WAS CONTROLLED BY THE GOVERNMENT AMPLIFIED THE PUBLIC’S ENSUING MISTRUST OF THE GOVERNMENT, AS THE PUBLIC WILL TAKE ANY CHANCE TO CRITICIZE THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE THINK THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT MAKE ANY MISTAKES ANYWAY. SO, A BIG MISTAKE BY THE GOVERNMENT HAS A LARGER EFFECT.
Untitled Slide
EVIDENCE/ANALYSIS 2
The government was almost completely responsible for the malfunction, because the private companies who made the faulty parts had advised against launching that day (it was really cold in Florida that day, and the parts malfunctioned more often when it was colder out), but NASA pressured the companies to let them launch, and the parts then malfunctioned in flight, which is what the companies said could happen. So, the mistake was entirely NASA’s, which had an impact on society because it led to an even larger mistrust of the government by society, which led the people to participate less in governmentally-concerned or government-connected activities, which made the government less effective towards the public as a whole.
The o-rings are the parts that malfunctioned.
EVIDENCE/ANALYSIS 3
Finally, the government tried to console itself and the nation by stating that all new endeavors are dangerous, and that to a certain extent, such a disaster should be accepted as inevitable. The disaster SHOULD, however, have been avoidable, and the claims that the disaster was the unavoidable price to pay was only consolation said by incompetent engineering management. The government already knew that the faulty parts sometimes malfunctioned during flights, but the secondary backup parts held up and no damage had been done during those flights where the primary part had failed. So, NASA worked on the faulty parts, but not as a priority because no accidents had happened yet.
(Evidence/Analysis 3 continued) In the explosion, both o-rings failed, and some flame spurted out, enough to ignite the fuel tank and form the huge fireball at 46,000 feet in the air. So, the fact that this was preventable and the government lied about that to save face affects the people even more (once they knew the government was lying) makes the community not trust the government as a whole, which doesn’t help anybody (nor the citizens or the government).
COUNTER ARGUMENT
ECONOMICS ALSO HAD AN AFFECT ON SOCIETY AFTER THE DISASTER
