On January 28, 1986, the Space Shutt;e Challenger was destriyed upon lauch from Cape
Canaveral, Florida killing all seven astronauts on board. Conduct a literature search on the topics
of the Challenger disaster and groupthink. Then, discuss how groupthink might have created
decision-making problems for NASA and its booster contractor. Cite at least two sources in your
answer.
Solution
Groupthink means that in a meeting, you, as a member of that meeting, did'nt speak as you did
not want to appear unsupportive of the group's efforts or against the group's goal and purpose.
In case of Challenger Space shuttle, the engineers were aware of some faulty parts well in
advance of the take off of the shuttle. They did not point this out as they wanted to avoid
negative press.
The Challenger explosion was caused by hardware failure. Just a day before launch, NASA had
received warnings from its sub-contractor regarding the performance of a hardware part in a
particular weather condition. NASA was reluctant to delay the launch of the shuttle, as it had
already done it once earlier due to weather conditions. The engineers of the sub-contractor were
pressuirized to agree with NASA's decision to go ahead with the launch. The engineers agreed
for the launch and this led to the disaster.
Source: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_82.htm
http://study.com/academy/lesson/group-think-definition-examples.html