The Challenger disaster: How a NASA tragedy led to a safer Artemis II

About this episode

This episode explores the legacy of the Challenger disaster and its impact on NASA's safety culture, particularly in relation to Artemis II.

When Artemis II lifted off this past April, marking humanity’s return to the Moon, people across the world were captivated. It was a triumph decades in the making, but also shaped by painful loss. In this episode of Tiny Matters, we trace the legacy of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster on its 40th anniversary, unpacking what went wrong both scientifically and organizationally, and how the event necessarily helped reshape NASA’s safety culture. We hear firsthand from astronaut Terry Hart, who flew on Challenger less than two years before the accident, and from NASA’s acting Chief of Safety and Mission Assurance, Nathan Vassberg, about how Challenger — and later, Columbia — reshaped the way NASA thinks about risk, and how those lessons were applied to Artemis II. We also hear from Vanessa Bentley, professor of applied ethics who teaches a course dissecting the conflict between managers and engineers that led to the tragedy. Send us your science facts, news, or other stories for a chance to be featured on an upcoming Tiny Show and Tell Us bonus episode. And, while you're at it, subscribe to our newsletter ! All Tiny Matters transcripts and references are available here . See…

People in this episode

Guests: Terry Hart, Nathan Vassberg, Vanessa Bentley

Topics covered

• NASA safety culture
• Challenger disaster
• Artemis II
• space exploration
• risk management
• engineering ethics

Keywords

• Challenger disaster
• NASA
• Artemis II
• safety culture
• risk management
• space exploration
• engineering ethics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NASA

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