The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA Enlarged Edition,

On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, a tragedy that millions of Americans witnessed and remember vividly. Diane Vaughan recreates the events and decisions that led to this disaster, offering an account that challenges conventional interpretations. Vaughan examines why NASA managers decided to proceed with the launch despite having prior information and warnings against it. Through the perspectives of managers and engineers, she traces an incremental descent into poor judgment within a culture of high-risk technology. She documents how NASA insiders, when confronted repeatedly with evidence of problems, normalized the deviance until it became acceptable to them. This enlarged edition includes a new preface in which Vaughan reflects on the implications of her findings following a similar decision-making process that led to the Space Shuttle Columbia's failure in 2003. Vaughan argues that what occurred at NASA was not misconduct but a disastrous mistake, and she challenges the conclusions of the Rogers Commission investigation.