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NPR: "Challenger Engineer Who Warned Of Shuttle Disaster Dies"

Bob Ebeling spent a third of his life consumed with guilt about the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. But at the end of his life, his family says, he was finally able to find peace.

"It was as if he got permission from the world," says his daughter Leslie Ebeling Serna. "He was able to let that part of his life go."

Ebeling died Monday at age 89 at in Brigham City, Utah, after a long illness, according to his daughter Kathy Ebeling.

Hundreds of NPR readers and listeners helped Ebeling overcome persistent guilt in the weeks before his death. They sent supportive e-mails and letters after our January story marking the 30th anniversary of the Challenger tragedy.

Ebeling was one of five booster rocket engineers at NASA contractor Morton Thiokol who tried to stop the 1986 Challenger launch. They worried that cold temperatures overnight — the forecast said 18 degrees — would stiffen the rubber o-ring seals that prevent burning rocket fuel from leaking out of booster joints.

Bob Ebeling with his daughter Kathy (center) and his wife, Darlene.


For the 30th anniversary of the disaster, NPR wrote an article about Ebeling and followed up a month later.

January 28, 2016: "30 Years After Explosion, Challenger Engineer Still Blames Himself"

"I think that was one of the mistakes that God made," Ebeling says softly. "He shouldn't have picked me for the job. But next time I talk to him, I'm gonna ask him, 'Why me. You picked a loser.' "

February 25, 2016: "Your Letters Helped Challenger Shuttle Engineer Shed 30 Years Of Guilt"

The night before, NASA had sent a statement and Ebeling hadn't heard it yet. The statement was emailed by a spokeswoman for NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, a former astronaut. He flew on the shuttle flight just before Challenger, and later led the effort to resume shuttle flights safely.

"We honor [the Challenger astronauts] not through bearing the burden of their loss, but by constantly reminding each other to remain vigilant," the statement read. "And to listen to those like Mr. Ebeling who have the courage to speak up so that our astronauts can safely carry out their missions."

After hearing that, Ebeling clapped long and hard, and shouted, "Bravo!"

"I've had that thought many, many times," he said.

Ebeling is now more buoyant than at any time I've seen or talked to him in the past 30 years. It's been a rough three decades, and it hasn't gotten any easier. He's near the end of his predicted life expectancy for prostate cancer and has hospice care at home. He said he'll pray for God's assessment once our interview ends.

I asked him one more question. "What would you like to say to all the people who have written you?"

"Thank you," he said. "You helped bring my worrisome mind to ease. You have to have an end to everything."

Ebeling then smiled, raised his hands above his head and clapped again. Kathy Ebeling called that a miracle.

More in the links.

 

[Tagyhag]

I'm glad that he was able to pass with his mind at peace. RIP.

 

[Cerium]

Why did he blame himself if he was the one who argued against the launch?

 

[Spike Spiegel]

Wow, this is the first time I'm hearing of his passing yet I spent a couple of hours this afternoon watching Challenger documentaries because I felt like it. Weird.

 

[JonnyDBrit]

Why did he blame himself if he was the one who argued against the launch?

Standard case of "Why couldn't I have done more to stop it?". Even if he didn't really have the power to change it beyond pleading the case to his superiors, its not hard to see how the typical Ifs would gnaw at him after the fact.

 

[maomaoIYP]

Why did he blame himself if he was the one who argued against the launch?

Because the persistent feeling that you could have done more in the face of a tragedy that was not truly your fault is a feeling that will never fade.

 

[Tesseract]

Pretty amazing that Feynman was able to figure out this stuff after a few nights alone with video feed, and a glass of lemonade

It really is true, the world is extremely simple once you break it down to coin flips and jiggling balls that attract to repel

 

[Brinbe]

Damn, that's awful. i'm glad he was able to find some peace.

 

[Raiku]

RIP Mr. Ebeling, I hope you were able to find some true solace in the end.

 

[cheezcake]

Rest in peace.

Fuck Morton Thiokol and how they treated Roger Boisjoly as well.

 

[Mimosa97]

Unsung hero.

RIP

 

[Deleted member 80556]

Rest in peace, sir. Wish we had been wiser then,but it's something I hope won't ever happen again.

I'm glad you found tranquility in your last days.

 

[The Lamp]

I had to study this case in almost excruciating detail in our engineering ethics and technical writing courses (sloppy technical communication is a contributing factor to this disaster). Him, Boisjoly (who died a few years ago), etc. Sad that their goodwill never paid off for them. Sometimes doing the right thing doesn't pay off.

 

[Tesseract]

Unsung hero.

RIP

real unsung was feynman, the committee totally squelched him

the smartest man alive, totally squelched

smh

 

[Premium Quality]

RIP. Glad he was able to find peace.

 

[Nephtis]

Seeing that he was one of the few that was against the launch, seeing this:

"I think that was one of the mistakes that God made," Ebeling says softly. "He shouldn't have picked me for the job. But next time I talk to him, I'm gonna ask him, 'Why me. You picked a loser.' "

just broke my heart. Rest in peace Mr. Ebeling - you more than deserve it.

 

[cdyhybrid]

RIP. Glad he was able to find peace.

.