Allan McDonald, engineer who refused to approve Challenger launch, dies in Utah
OGDEN, Utah (KSL) Allan McDonald, the whistleblower and engineer sent by contractor Morton Thiokol to approve the 1986 Challenger space shuttle launch but who refused to sign off, has died in Ogden at age 83, according to NPR.
McDonald was overruled by NASA and company management prior to the Challenger explosion 73 seconds after its launch on Jan. 28, 1986; all seven astronauts aboard were killed, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, who was to be the first civilian in space.
McDonald’s family said that he died on Saturday in Ogden following a fall and suffering brain damage, NPR reported.
Bird Song of the Day
Owl Week at the Naked Capitalism Water Cooler continues, with an entire family of Barn Owls (plus some insects, I think).
#COVID19
Since we are apparently “in the eye of the storm” with our still appallingly high Covid numbers, and waiting until the effects of the variants makes themselves felt, I thought I’d try to get a handle on where the variants are. Here is the CDC’s map:
Note CDC’s careful qualification: “The cases identified above are based on a sampling of SARS-CoV-2-positive specimens and do not represent the total number of B.1.1.7, B.1.351, and P.1 lineage cases that may be circulating in the United States and may not match numbers reported by states, territories, tribes, and local officials.” I presume that’s because our lineage tracking, unlike that of civilized countries with national health care systems, is abysmal.
Humpday News Roundup: Good Risks, Airports & Three Parents
March 10, 2021
Benton County in High Risk
!
Finally! Benton County has moved down from Extreme to High Risk on the Governor’s scale. This means more things will be opened, and it allows for some indoor dining. Of course, the counties around Benton are moving to Moderate Risk – as is Multnomah County which is a head scratcher – but let’s be glass-half-full folks and keep toeing the line toward the end goal of everyone being well.
FEMA Coming Through
Benton County will use a $3.1 million loan from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to support mass vaccination clinics. Benton has one of the highest vaccination rates per capita, and these funds will keep that moving forward in spite of the fact that the county will not be getting more vaccines than usual. Benton County will be partnering with Linn and Lincoln counties to operate the clinics
Utahn Allan McDonald dies at 83; tried to stop the Challenger launch
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Allan McDonald of Ogden picuted in 2016. McDonald, a Morton-Thiokol engineer, was director of the program that made the rocket boosters that included sets of o-rings between the rocket sections for the Space Shuttle. He refused to sign off on the Challenger launch in 1986, though NASA launched anyway and the shuttle blew up shortly after launch.
By Clay Risen | The New York Times
| March 10, 2021, 4:54 p.m. | Updated: 5:39 p.m.
Allan J. McDonald, an engineer who on a chilly January morning in 1986 tried to stop the launch of the Challenger space shuttle, citing the possible effect of the cold on its booster rockets, and who, after it broke apart on liftoff, blew the whistle when government officials tried to cover up his dissent, died Saturday in Ogden. He was 83.
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