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Petition to Honor Robert Ebeling, Who Tried to Stop the Challenger Launch

167 points by OliverJones 11y ago

OliverJones 11y ago
Let's ask the US Administration to confer some kind of honor on Robert Ebeling, the engineer at Thiokol who spoke up right before the space shuttle Challenger the night before its ill-fated launch. Please click the link to sign the petition. We know Thiokol and NASA went ahead in spite of his warning, and we know how well that worked out. Recently it has come out that he was isolated by his company and colleagues after he spoke up. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/28/464744781/30-years-after-disaster-challenger-engineer-still-blames-himself http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/28/464744781/... Why honor him? Out of respect for him, and respect for engineers and quality-assurance people everywhere. Sometimes it stinks to be right, but part of engineering is being right and saying so.
- csours 11y ago
  Suggestion: If you can edit the title, the first two words at least should be capitalized.
- kjhughes 11y ago
  Oliver, it looks like you're the creator of the petition. Thanks for doing this.
- mratzloff 11y ago
  I signed, but it's going to be awfully difficult getting 100,000 signatures in a month. You'll need to campaign for it (contact professional organizations, etc.) if you want it to go anywhere.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
- pdkl95 11y ago
  > Why honor him? Another reason: encouraging more people to speak up when they see a problem.
  - a3n 11y ago
    Should fit right in with the government message: See something, say something.
  - bsbechtel 11y ago
    Agreed. It's unfortunate that's not working out so well for Snowden right now.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
irremediable 11y ago
Great effort. I'm not American, but the story of Ebeling (and others at Morton-Thiokol) is taught in engineering schools throughout the world. I saw there was a great public reaction to the recent NPR article, with an outpouring of sympathy for Ebeling. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/02/25/466555217/your-letters-helped-challenger-shuttle-engineer-shed-30-years-of-guilt http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/02/25/466555217/...
rootbear 11y ago
My father was working at NASA when Challenger was lost, and I work there now. I'm happy to sign this petition.
JohnDeHope 11y ago
This was a no brainer. Only 32 signatures? We engineers can do better!
afarrell 11y ago
It is good to see a petition that is actually within the power of the executive branch rather than being a legislative power.
xivzgrev 11y ago
That's heart breaking he spent so long without hearing confirmation from those above. I'm happy in the end he got the closure he needed.
deleted 11y ago
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deleted 11y ago
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pluckytree 11y ago
I don’t think we need this petition. The current and last administration have always honored and protected whistleblowers. It’s not like they would take their passports and run them out of the country or anything.

167 points by OliverJones 11y ago

Let's ask the US Administration to confer some kind of honor on Robert Ebeling, the engineer at Thiokol who spoke up right before the space shuttle Challenger the night before its ill-fated launch. Please click the link to sign the petition. We know Thiokol and NASA went ahead in spite of his warning, and we know how well that worked out. Recently it has come out that he was isolated by his company and colleagues after he spoke up. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/28/464744781/30-years-after-disaster-challenger-engineer-still-blames-himself http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/28/464744781/... Why honor him? Out of respect for him, and respect for engineers and quality-assurance people everywhere. Sometimes it stinks to be right, but part of engineering is being right and saying so.

csours 11y ago
Suggestion: If you can edit the title, the first two words at least should be capitalized.
kjhughes 11y ago
Oliver, it looks like you're the creator of the petition. Thanks for doing this.
mratzloff 11y ago
I signed, but it's going to be awfully difficult getting 100,000 signatures in a month. You'll need to campaign for it (contact professional organizations, etc.) if you want it to go anywhere.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
pdkl95 11y ago
> Why honor him? Another reason: encouraging more people to speak up when they see a problem.
- a3n 11y ago
  Should fit right in with the government message: See something, say something.
- bsbechtel 11y ago
  Agreed. It's unfortunate that's not working out so well for Snowden right now.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

irremediable 11y ago

Great effort. I'm not American, but the story of Ebeling (and others at Morton-Thiokol) is taught in engineering schools throughout the world. I saw there was a great public reaction to the recent NPR article, with an outpouring of sympathy for Ebeling. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/02/25/466555217/your-letters-helped-challenger-shuttle-engineer-shed-30-years-of-guilt http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/02/25/466555217/...

rootbear 11y ago

My father was working at NASA when Challenger was lost, and I work there now. I'm happy to sign this petition.

JohnDeHope 11y ago

This was a no brainer. Only 32 signatures? We engineers can do better!

afarrell 11y ago

It is good to see a petition that is actually within the power of the executive branch rather than being a legislative power.

xivzgrev 11y ago

That's heart breaking he spent so long without hearing confirmation from those above. I'm happy in the end he got the closure he needed.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

pluckytree 11y ago

I don’t think we need this petition. The current and last administration have always honored and protected whistleblowers. It’s not like they would take their passports and run them out of the country or anything.