Title :
Ethical analysis for space shuttle analysis
Author :
Theng, Ooi Sock ; Ismail, Maszlan Bin
Author_Institution :
Operations And Space System Division, National Space Agency, Selangor, Malaysia
Abstract :
In an effort to promote the space program launched by the government of United States (US), the first Teacher in Space Project (TISP) was announced by President Reagan in1984. To succeed this project, the management at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and their contractor, Thiokol overruled engineer´s opinion and commented that the data given was inconclusive. This situation went worse when the management level made irrational decisions to launch the mission yet they knew there was a design flaw in Solid Rocket Booster (SRB). Due to their irresponsible conducts, seven astronauts were killed when the space shuttle they were piloting, the Challenger, exploded 73 seconds after liftoff. It was the first tragedy in US lost their astronauts in flight. Consequently, NASA had to suspend shuttle flights for two years. In order to analyze this case study, analysis is placed on using ethical theories are the foreground. Each ethical theory emphasizes different points to examine problems from different perspectives in order to reach an ethically correct decision. Hence, knowledge of ethical theories is essential because it provides a framework for understanding and making a better decision.
Keywords :
Ethics; Meteorology; NASA; Rockets; Solids; Space shuttles; Structural rings; NASA; astronauts; solid rocket booster; space shuttle;
Conference_Titel :
Science and Social Research (CSSR), 2010 International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-8987-9
DOI :
10.1109/CSSR.2010.5773816