Roger Boisjoly, NASA Contractor Who Warned Of Challenger Disaster, Dies At 73

Roger Boisjoly, NASA Contractor Who Warned Of Challenger Disaster, Dies At 73

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NEPHI, Utah -- Roger Boisjoly, a NASA contractor who repeatedly voiced concerns about the space shuttle Challenger before it exploded, has died. He was 73.

Boisjoly died of cancer on Jan. 6 in Nephi, about 40 miles south of Provo, his wife Roberta Boisjoly said.

The 1986 Challenger tragedy shocked the nation. Seven astronauts, including a schoolteacher, were killed when the shuttle disintegrated 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Boisjoly, an engineer at rocket-builder Morton Thiokol Inc., warned in 1985 that seals on the booster rocket joints could fail in freezing te

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Maaan, I remember that clear as day as if it happened last week. I was working at JFK airport in New York city at the time and there was a blizzard going on, and Fedex (or Federal express as it was known at the time) had crashed one of their planes into a loader-lifter while the plane was being marshalled in. The visibility was zero and the left wing got ripped off. And as that was being investigated, we had the TV on in the office and all you saw was that video of the smoke and the pieces of the shuttle flying off into the sky. And one of my co-workers said: “And Fedex thinks they got problems”. Not a day to be flying.

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reply to post by Highergrounds


I can't help but wonder where we would be if he had convinced NASA to ground Challenger until they could investigate the O rings. They were going to be pushing 25 flights a year...maybe even have started Space Station Freedom while Reagan was still in office. Who knows.

Interesting to speculate though.

A very sad day.
To lose one of the few men with the morals ,values & the determination not to be silenced, it is a huge loss for those fighting the good fight.
RIP & Thank You Roger Boisjoly.

Sad to hear about his death, at least he died with a clear conscience although I bet he thought he had not done enough. I'm just stunned that no one was brought to book about this as Roger had made it very clear what would happen.

Rare these days to have a man or woman of decency who would go against the system to stand up for what is right (or in this case wrong) with it.

He should have been made a national hero but yet the system made sure he was shunned.