The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
Summary
This episode details the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, tracing its origins from Cold War politics and budget constraints to the fatal launch on January 28, 1986. It highlights the inclusion of teacher Christa McAuliffe, the ignored warnings about O-ring failures in freezing temperatures, and the subsequent investigation led by Richard Feynman. The narrative exposes NASA’s organizational flaws and the "normalization of deviance" that contributed to the tragedy.
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