Introduction
Course Content
This course provides instruction in engineering ethics through a case study of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. The course begins by presenting the minimum technical details needed to understand the physical cause of the Shuttle failure. The disaster itself is chronicled through NASA photographs. Next the decision-making process—especially the discussions occurring during the teleconference held on the evening before the launch—is described. Direct quotations from engineers interviewed after the disaster are frequently used to illustrate the ambiguities of the data and the pressures that the decision-makers faced in the period preceding the launch. The course culminates in an extended treatment of six ethical issues raised by Challenger.
Purpose of Case Studies
Principles of engineering ethics are easy to formulate but sometimes hard to apply. Suppose, for example, that an engineering team has made design choice X, rather than Y, and X leads to a bad consequence—someone was injured. To determine if the engineers acted ethically, we have to answer the question of whether they chose X rather than Y because 1) X appeared to be the better technical choice, or 2) X promoted some other end (for example, financial) in the organization. Abstract ethics principles alone cannot answer this question; we must delve into the technical details surrounding the decision. The purpose of case studies in general is to provide us with the context—the technical details—of an engineering decision in which an ethical principle may have been violated.
Case Study of Challenger Disaster
On January 28, 1986, the NASA space Shuttle Challenger burst into a ball of flame 73 seconds after take-off, leading to the death of the seven people on board. Some months later, a commission appointed by the President to investigate the causes of the disaster determined that the cause of the disaster was the failure of a seal in one of the solid rocket boosters (Report to the President 1986, vol. 1, p. 40). Furthermore, Morton Thiokol, the contractor responsible for the seal design, had initiated a teleconference with NASA on the evening before the launch and had, at the beginning of the teleconference, recommended against launching because of concerns about the performance of the seal. This recommendation was reversed during the teleconference, with fatal consequences.
To understand the decisions that led to the Challenger disaster, you must first understand what the technical problems were. Accordingly, this course begins by presenting the minimum technical details you will need to understand the physical cause of the seal failure. After laying this groundwork, we examine what occurred in the teleconference. You will probably find, as you learn more and more about the Challenger project, that issues that had appeared simple initially are actually far more complex; pinpointing responsibility and assigning blame are not nearly as easy as many popular accounts have made them. The purpose of the present course is 1) to consider some of the issues and show by example how difficult it can be to distinguish unethical behavior from technical mistakes (with severe consequences), and 2) to equip you to think critically and act appropriately when confronted with ethical decisions in your own professional work.
The course is divided into the following topics:
1. Two Common Errors of Interpretation
2. Configuration of Shuttle
3. Function of O-rings
4. History of Problems with Joint Seals
5. Teleconference
6. Accident
7. Ethical issue: Did NASA take extra risks because of pressure to maintain Congressional funding?
8. Ethical issue: Did Thiokol take extra risks because of fear of losing its contract with NASA?
9. Ethical issue: Was the Principle of Informed Consent violated?
10. Ethical issue: What role did whistle blowing have in the Challenger story?
11. Ethical issue: Who had the right to Thiokol documents relating to the Challenger disaster?
12. Ethical issue: Why are some engineering disasters considered ethical issues and others are not?
13. Summary
For more info Engineering Ethics it Case Studies
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