Remembering Allan McDonald: He Refused To Approve Challenger Launch, Exposed Cover-Up

[daftandbarmy]

This is a great example of the real 'Right Stuff'

Remembering Allan McDonald: He Refused To Approve Challenger Launch, Exposed Cover-Up​

Allan McDonald in 2016 holds a commemorative poster honoring the seven astronauts killed aboard the space shuttle Challenger.

McDonald directed the booster rocket project at NASA contractor Morton Thiokol. He was responsible for the two massive rockets, filled with explosive fuel, that lifted space shuttles skyward. He was at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the launch of the Challenger "to approve or disapprove a launch if something came up," he told me in 2016, 30 years after Challenger exploded.

His job was to sign and submit an official form. Sign the form, he believed, and he'd risk the lives of the seven astronauts set to board the spacecraft the next morning. Refuse to sign, and he'd risk his job, his career and the good life he'd built for his wife and four children.

"And I made the smartest decision I ever made in my lifetime," McDonald told me. "I refused to sign it. I just thought we were taking risks we shouldn't be taking."



https://www.npr.org/2021/03/07/9745...dEl5qOaGyop5m0fFU4JTiPJGUlS2P4ZvhPmwqy5cppPlA

 

[Walt]

D&B,

Thank you for posting this article. What impressed me most is the following:

"What we should remember about Al McDonald [is] he would often stress his laws of the seven R's," Maier says. "It was always, always do the right thing for the right reason at the right time with the right people. [And] you will have no regrets for the rest of your life."

Walt

 

[daftandbarmy]

D&B,

Thank you for posting this article. What impressed me most is the following:

"What we should remember about Al McDonald [is] he would often stress his laws of the seven R's," Maier says. "It was always, always do the right thing for the right reason at the right time with the right people. [And] you will have no regrets for the rest of your life."

Walt

That should be posted on the wall of every office building. And it happens to be one of the main reasons why I have no problems getting to sleep at night!

 

[Walt]

I agree D&B. Something which seems commonly sensical, but is too often not heeded. How times have changed...........

Walt

 

[infant]

Thanks for posting this. Studied this case at university 20 years ago, Mr. McDonald is one of my heroes..