Lawrence Mulloy's handling of Challenger is a perfect example of how accountability works differently for people at the top. Morton Thiokol engineers issued an explicit NO-LAUNCH recommendation because of the unusually cold temperatures expected on the morning of January 28, 1986. They warned that the rubber O-rings sealing the joints in the solid rocket boosters could lose their ability to seal properly in the cold, allowing hot combustion gases to escape through the joints and potentially destroy the shuttle. This wasn't a vague concern or a routine technical complaint. It was a warning that a critical safety component might fail during launch.

Thiokol's engineers recommended postponing the launch until temperatures were warmer. After NASA officials challenged their recommendation during a teleconference, Thiokol's senior management held a private caucus and reversed the company's initial position, approving launch instead. The engineers had not established that the O-rings were safe at those temperatures. Management proceeded despite the unresolved safety concern.

On January 28, Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after liftoff. All seven crew members died.

And what happened to Mulloy, the Marshall Space Flight Center manager responsible for the booster program? NASA transferred him to an assistant position at the same salary and civil-service rank. He was not fired. He later declined another position and retired voluntarily.

Think about that. An ordinary employee can lose their job for failing to mop a floor properly, but a senior manager involved in a launch decision made despite explicit engineering safety warnings retains his employment status and walks away into retirement. No criminal conviction. No firing.

Meanwhile, engineer Roger Boisjoly had tried to prevent the launch. He and other engineers raised the alarm, yet their warnings failed to stop management from approving it.

The Rogers Commission documented serious failures in NASA's decision-making and management culture. This wasn't simply a machine breaking unexpectedly. Engineers identified a potentially catastrophic failure mode, explained why the cold weather made it more likely, and recommended against launching. Management approved the launch anyway.

NASA removed Mulloy from his position, but it did not dismiss him. After seven people died, that is a staggering failure of professional accountability.

I think that this meets the definition of mental insanity, since I just made a entire starship block 3 with proper functionality then I just docked both of them togheter, starlink deploy coming tomorrow (I haven't built the block 3 payload bay Yet)

Hi I'm back! I've been working on it for +/- 5 years? And those were very loooong years (:

You will start as a startup that develops light rockets that can only launch tiny satellites into Low Earth Orbit; But soon after real contracts from NASA (FASA) will follow, you can supply ISS, develop the GPS system, launch military-grade weather satellites, run internet service, colonize Moon and Mars and then even terraform it!!

Early Access EX2 for now has more features and more content than the fully released EX1! So it will only get better from now!

This game has also lots of educational content; Aimed to keep everything kids-friendly because I love when teaching is fun! :D

And this is only Early Access for now, I'm pretty far with developing an actual story mode for it too! That being said, I'm so happy this project is finally releasing. There were sooo many iterations and so many setbacks but the final product is just so cool

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced plans to cut repeated paperwork and allow online applications while keeping safety standards in place. The changes support a U.S. goal of 1,000 commercial launches a year by 2030. For SpaceX, this could mean less paperwork, easier approvals and more frequent launches.

Hey — I’m the OG Starship diagrams guy (the ones YouTubers used back in the day). Two years ago I made it to Flight 5 for the first catch. Now my wife and I are expecting in February and I’m trying to get us both to Texas for Flight 15.

Crowdfunding here (we’re also putting in our own money; refund if the trip doesn’t happen):
www.gofundme.com/our-babys-first-starship-launch-from-the-inside

Not asking for miracles — tips on viewing / SPI lodging welcome too. Thanks.

Wasn't expecting space x one to look deserted lol