fattypatties

THAT'S THE WAY WE'VE ALWAYS DONE IT

The people looking into the shuttle disaster said this week that they are going to include a look at the culture at NASA as part of their report:

"We believe the next couple of dozen flights will be the safest in years," [Columbia Accident Investigation Board chairman, Harold W. Gehman] said. "NASA knows how to do that. But to fly the shuttle long-term, for 20 years more, there needs to be work on basic management changes."

Back in February, immediately after the disaster, we interviewed Boston College Sociologist, Dianne Vaughan, author of The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture and Deviance at NASA about the Columbia Shuttle tragedy and sociology's role in understanding science, technology and organisations.

This week on First Person, Plural, we are re-airing that interview today because we believe her insights into the ways in which "accepted risk" becomes a part of an organisational culture has a lot to offer NASA. We hope they will finally listen.