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Allan McDonald is a new name for me. Thanks for posting this. See also other engineers who objected to the launch, like Bob Ebeling [0], who suffered with ove
by hydrogen7800 2y ago
Allan McDonald is a new name for me. Thanks for posting this. See also other engineers who objected to the launch, like Bob Ebeling [0], who suffered with overwhelming guilt nearly until his death in 2016, and Roger Boisjoly [1], who never worked again as an engineer after Challenger.
[0] https://archive.ph/kGMYG https://archive.ph/kGMYG
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Boisjoly https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Boisjoly
- sjm-lbm 2y agoI hadn't heard of McDonald either, but there's a recent book (https://www.amazon.com/Challenger-Story-Heroism-Disaster-Space/dp/198217661X https://www.amazon.com/Challenger-Story-Heroism-Disaster-Spa...) that covers his contribution well. (TBH I'm reading this book right now - probably 2/3 the way through or so - and it's kind of weird to see something like this randomly pop up on HN today.)
- aybs 2y agoI just listened to the audio book on spotify, free for premium members, and I'm wondering if that's why I'm seeing so much about the Challenger disaster lately. Well worth a listen, and spends a great deal of time on setup for these key individuals who tried so hard to avert this disaster.
- autoexec 2y agoBoeing's Starliner problems? This article was probably brought on by the (then) recent passing of Allan McDonald
- cushychicken 2y agoBoisjoly was Macdonald's peer at Thiokol. Ebeling (I think) was either his direct manager or his division director. Boisjoly quit Thiokol after the booster incident. Macdonald stayed, and was harassed terribly by management. He took Thiokol to court at least once (possibly twice) on wrongful discrimination / termination / whistleblower clauses, and won.