Robison Wade, Boisjoly Roger, Hoeker David, Young Stefan
Rochester Institute of Technology, College of Liberal Arts, 92 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623-5604, USA.
Sci Eng Ethics. 2002 Jan;8(1):59-81. doi: 10.1007/s11948-002-0033-2.
This paper examines the role of the Morton Thiokol engineers in the decisions surrounding the launch of the Challenger, particularly with reference to an analysis of this event by Edward Tufte. The engineers at Morton Thiokol recommended against the launch of Challenger because the projected launch temperature between 26 degrees F to 29 degrees F was far outside their field database of successful launches. The engineers had asked for, but not received, data necessary to determine the cause of massive blow-by on the launch the previous January, and they had informed their managers and NASA that continuing flights could be catastrophic if the cause of the problems with the launches was not discovered. The authors conclude that the engineers thus did what they were ethically as well as professionally obligated to do.
本文探讨了莫顿聚硫橡胶公司的工程师在围绕挑战者号发射的决策中所扮演的角色，特别是参考了爱德华·塔夫特对这一事件的分析。莫顿聚硫橡胶公司的工程师建议不要发射挑战者号，因为预计发射温度在26华氏度至29华氏度之间，远远超出了他们成功发射的现场数据库范围。工程师们曾索要但未获得确定前一年1月发射时大量漏气原因所需的数据，并且他们已告知经理和美国国家航空航天局，如果不找出发射问题的原因，继续飞行可能会带来灾难性后果。作者得出结论，工程师们因此做了他们在道德和专业上都有义务做的事情。
