The Challenger Launch Decision ─ Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA

The original publication of The Challenger Launch Decision” occurred on January 28th, 1996, the 10th anniversary of that catastrophe. That very morning, a Sunday, the book was features in the New York Times’ front page story while its author was talking about the book on Good Morning America.” While everyone knew that faulty O rings were directly responsible, Vaughan’s book revealed how and why this problem was both known and ultimately discounted by NASA prior to greenlighting the flight. It quickly went on to become, and still is, the definitive account of the organizational origins of the accident and a model for understanding how complex organizations work more generally. So much so that when space shuttle Columbia disintegrated coming back itno the atmosphere seven years later, Vaughan was asked to consult for the Columbia Accident Investigation Board and then to write a chapter for their formal report. This edition of the book contains a very substantial, new preface offering an insider’s perspective on that investigation as well as explaining how the same organizational problems responsible for the Challenger disaster were also at the root of what happened to Columbia.

Diane Vaughan is professor of sociology and international and public affairs at Columbia University.