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Truth, Lies, and O-Rings
- Inside the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 26 hrs and 32 mins
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Truth, Lies, and O-Rings
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Publisher's Summary
On a cold January morning in 1986, NASA launched the Space Shuttle Challenger, despite warnings against doing so by many individuals including Allan McDonald. The fiery destruction of Challenger on live television moments after launch remains an indelible image in the nation's collective memory.
In Truth, Lies, and O-Rings, McDonald, a skilled engineer and executive, relives the tragedy from where he stood at Launch Control Center. As he fought to draw attention to the real reasons behind the disaster, he was the only one targeted for retribution by both NASA and his employer, Morton Thiokol, Inc., makers of the shuttle's solid rocket boosters.
In this whistle-blowing yet rigorous and fair-minded book, McDonald, with the assistance of internationally distinguished aerospace historian James R. Hansen, addresses all of the factors that led to the accident, some of which were never included in NASA's Failure Team report submitted to the Presidential Commission.
Truth, Lies, and O-Rings is the first look at the Challenger tragedy and its aftermath from someone who was on the inside, recognized the potential disaster, and tried to prevent it. It also addresses the early warnings of very severe debris issues from the first two post-Challenger flights, which ultimately resulted in the loss of Columbia some 15 years later.
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What listeners say about Truth, Lies, and O-Rings
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alexander Turner
- 2021-08-16
A must read for engineers
"Good ideas will always yield to greed, skepticism and pride"
I quote this from memory so the accuracy of words may not be there but the essence of the quote holds true.
Ask any engineer about Dilbert and they will say that it was funny until they learned it was true. In this regard I cannot say that this is an enjoyable book because it depicts the problems that are found too often in engineering no matter the country or level of prestige.
A great read to learn about how passionate engineers are about good work of high quality of which proper diligence has been done to avoid catastrophe and how the public image and pressure on managers can lead to the forgoing of the recommendations of the engineers in favour of media content which I argue is becoming even more of a concern than ever before
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- EntertainmentLover
- 2018-08-28
Truth Lies and O-Rings
Extensive and well documented from someone deep on the inside head engineer J Allan McDonald.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David
- 2021-04-04
Listen or read, then buy your MP and MLA (or Congress critters) each a copy
Well written and well performed by the reader.
This nonfiction narrative is a definitive object lesson in the moral necessity of humility, rationality, and integrity in leadership. Both lost Shuttle crews would have lived, had only political and business leaders put facts before politics and finances—had they deferred to professional expertise rather than overriding sound engineering judgement with financially and politically motivated emotional reasoning. The social dynamic which killed the Challenger and Columbia crews recurs today, and we need our leaders to stop repeating it—or we need to promptly replace them with those who will. Listen and learn why, then send a copy to those who governs it would, where you live.
Excellent work; definitely worth the time.
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