Challenger

About the Book

The author, Gaylen A. Thurston, earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering at Iowa State (1950), a M.S. in Engineering at Ohio State (1951), and a Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics at Cornell (1956). He worked in the aerospace industry (1956-1969), taught engineering mechanics at the University of Denver (1969-1975) and worked at the NASA Langley Research Center (1979-1991). The joint rotation failure scenario is based on the nonlinear theory for shells of revolution under axisymmetric loads. He did the analysis and numerical analysis for computer c odes used in the aerospace industry for shell design. He also wrote class notes on the theory.

About the Author

Good researchers have the ability to be objective about their own work. This book contains examples and counter examples that support this conclusion. The Reagan administration and NASA were unable to conduct an objective investigation to determine the cause of the Space Shuttle Challenger accident. Consequently, the probably cause remains unknown. The cause was not faulty-O-Rings in the field joint. The redesigned joint has three O-Rings and a capture tang. The designers of the new joint believed that the failure of hte Challenger joint could be explained by the Joint rotation failure scenario. However, there is another scenario.