EmilyW.R03

The Challenger explosion was a great tragedy that could have been prevented. It is a sad day when money, power, politics, and arrogance are put before the lives of people. After every great accident there is always a distribution of blame. In this case it was the carelessness of the scientists who knew the dangerous conditions that previous data showed would corrupt the integrity of the o-rings during the take off and their failure to get that information through, and the irresponsibility of the leaders who didn't take the time to look at the big picture and say, "these scientists are telling us not to go through with the launch"(!).

These scientists were at the top of the line in their fields and they failed to communicate because of something as simple as the quality of their charts. They sent 13 charts and not one of them got through to the people that were not on the science end of the whole proceeding. Its hard to imagine that this could have happened because this is a very important and crucial bit of information that they had to get through. It would be thought that they would spend the utmost care when designing graphs that would make the decision where lives were at stake. Maybe the scientists thought the graphs were clear coming from the side of already understanding the data and they just didn't envision how they would look to someone who didn't know anything about the data. But this just seems very irresponsible and careless to overlook the fact that this information was new to the people they had to convince and that it was crucial that they did convince them.

The people who made the decision for the Challenger to launch were already set in their decision before they even looked at the charts. They knew they wanted that shuttle to go and they were angry that the scientists even brought up a dispute to have it not go that day. They deliberated the charts and they some how found a way to justify the launch of the shuttle would go through. They charts did not give "sufficient evidence" according to them but it is my thought that they were not really looking that hard at the reasons not to go. I wonder how they must have felt when they watched the explosion the next day and knew the whole country was watching too.

The way information is presented is so important in every aspect. Its amazing to think of how much we are all effected by information and the spread of data on a daily basis. The only thing that makes information hold it's important is the way it is communicated. For, if the message isn't presented in an effective way, it can be changed or lost along the way. In the case of the Challenger the information that had to get across failed and the cost was enormous, not only for the people who died but all of their families and all the people who saw this happen.