Reading 05

From the readings, I learned that the Challenger disaster was caused by a chain of events initiated by a failed seal on a rocket booster. There was erosion of an O Ring caused by the cold temperatures of the day of that launch that allowed a stream of hot gas to ignite an external fuel tank. Although the launch team was warned about the dangers of going through with the launch in such cold temperatures (near 31 degrees when 54 degrees was recommended), they decided to accept the risks and proceed as planned.  
I believe that Roger Boisjoly was ethical in sharing his information regarding the dangers of proceeding with the launch in cold temperature. In this situation, and in many others like it, I believe that individuals have the responsibility to stand up for what they believe is right. By voicing his opinion pre-launch Roger was watching out for the lives of the astronauts on board the space shuttle. Roger was simply valuing the lives of those astronauts over the other consequences (such as monetary costs) that might have been faced if NASA were to postpone the launch to a later, warmer day. I am in a just war theory class this semester and one topic we discussed was what a soldier is supposed to do when their commander orders them to do something that is unjust. In war, a soldier has the responsibly to disobey a manifestly unlawful order, for example, intentionally and for no reason killing non-combatants. In this case I think of Roger as a soldier alerting/disobeying his commander for moral and ethical reasons. By expressing the dangers of moving forward with the launch I believe that Roger took the high road, even it is frowned upon as disobeying orders.
While I do believe that a company does have the right to retaliate against an employee who clearly disobeys its wishes, I support Roger Boisjoly in this case. I do not believe that trying to cover up that they knew about the dangers of launching the space shuttle in cold conditions if morally or ethically right. Those affected by the tragedy and the public have the right to know what precautions were taken and/ignored in the preparation for the launch.

Whistleblowing can be a source of information to stop unfortunate tragedies from happening. In this case, if NASA had listened to the warnings and decided to postpone the launch of the Challenger lives could have been saved and there would not have been the halt in the space program in the following years. In addition, the whistleblower does not have to live with the guilt of not speaking out in a case where someone does know something is wrong and withholds that information. Sometimes, I would imagine that not living with the guilt of withholding information would, or could, make destroying your career worth it. In my opinion, we all have the responsibility to watch out for not only ourselves but those around us, and if we are called to risk our career to try to save the lives of others then we must.

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