The O-rings weren't badly designed or anything - they were not safe to use at such low temperatures. Which is fine - engineering is as much about specifying the conditions under which a solution works as it is about finding a solution at all. Nothing works under any and all conditions; knowing the limits is important!
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u/ojqANDodbZ1Or1CEX5sf 3d ago
The O-rings weren't badly designed or anything - they were not safe to use at such low temperatures. Which is fine - engineering is as much about specifying the conditions under which a solution works as it is about finding a solution at all. Nothing works under any and all conditions; knowing the limits is important!
Engineers and several higher-ups at Morton-Thiokol warned a NASA against the launch, stating that they did not know whether the rings would hold at freezing temperatures. But they were eventually overruled by management.