04 | The Challenger Legacy: The Devil You Know

What this episode covers

In the wake of twin disasters two decades apart, how do we make sense of why they happened? In episode four, we find out what happened on the very first flight after Columbia — and ask whether NASA changed at all. To hear more podcast episodes from hosts Fiona Pepper and Dr Karl Kruszelnicki about the legacy the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster left on culture, space exploration and high-risk decision making, search ‘Science Friction: The Challenger Legacy podcast’ from Radio National (RN) on the ABC Listen App (Australia), or wherever you get your podcasts. Guests: Mike Ciannilli Former Columbia integration systems engineer, NASA Miles O'Brien Aerospace correspondent, CNN Adam Higginbotham Author, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space Mark Maier Distinguished professor of leadership, Chapman University, California Eileen Collins Former astronaut; commander, STS-114 Credits: Presenters: Fiona Pepper and Karl Kruszelnicki Reporter: Fiona Pepper Senior Producer: James Bullen Series Producer: Jonathan Webb Executive Producer: Petria Ladgrove Sound Engineer: Tim Jenkins Archives Research: Lisa Chidlow, Michael Osmond This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal and Menang Noongar peoples.