Engineer Who Opposed Launch Known for Integrity, Intensity

Roger Boisjoly, the rocket engineer whose adamant opposition to the shuttle launch put him in heated conflict with his management superiors, surprised none of his colleagues with the intensity of his convictions.

“There isn’t anybody at Thiokol that’s more independent than Roger,” one young engineer said.

In fact, Boisjoly voluntarily surrendered a management position on a shuttle rocket team because “he wasn’t comfortable--he wanted to be independent,” the engineer said.

“Managers have to worry about schedules and financial impacts, but a guy like Roger could (not) care less. His only concern was the engineering,” said an associate who has known Boisjoly since the Boston-area native moved to Morton Thiokol Inc.’s Wasatch Division about six years ago from Southern California.

Emotional Opposition

Tuesday it was Boisjoly--along with fellow engineers Allan McDonald, Arnold Thompson and Brian Russell--who gave the nation its first detailed look at the emotional, inside opposition to a Morton Thiokol management decision to approve launch of the Challenger.

Their testimony before the presidential commission investigating the shuttle crash revealed deep-seated fears of disaster.

From Russell, a boyish 30-year-old Mormon church leader from Ogden, to McDonald, a 48-year-old Montanan, “They are all rugged individualists,” said one Thiokol engineer. McDonald, who refused to sign a consent form to authorize the launch on behalf of Thiokol--even after his superiors had agreed--is regarded as “a very honorable guy” even by an associate who expressed criticism at the way blame for the shuttle disaster seems to be shifting toward Thiokol managers on account of testimony by McDonald and the others.

“Al McDonald has taken care of his conscience--now he can sleep at night--but what really bothers me is the other (management) guys: They still have to believe they did the right thing too,” said the Thiokol colleague who, like other engineers contacted by The Times, agreed to be interviewed only if his name was not used.

But Weldon Daines, a longtime friend of McDonald and a Thiokol employee, said McDonald was not afraid to buck the Establishment. “If he thought he was right, he could hang mighty tough,” Daines said.

Highly Respected

He is, added another McDonald colleague, “one of the most respected people out there (at Thiokol).”

Broad respect also was voiced for Boisjoly, who appears to enjoy a high measure of personal popularity as well.

One engineer recalled how Boisjoly once came to the defense of a young engineer who would not sign off on an engineering drawing despite pressure from a superior.

“Roger barged right in and told the program (management) guy where to go,” the engineer said.

Boisjoly’s aggressive, even feisty style, also is evident outside the job. His staunch opposition to development of a gravel pit in nearby Willard, for example, lead to his selection as town mayor--a job he held only until the gravel pit was blocked. Then he resigned.

“He just had enough of the battles,” said a friend.

Top Expert on Seals

Testimony Tuesday made it clear that Boisjoly battled hard for accelerated research into the possible vulnerability of rocket motor seals, such as the one suspected of failing on the Challenger launch. Thiokol Vice President Gerald Mason described Boisjoly as the company’s top expert on the seals.

It was Boisjoly who had urged creation of a task force to work full time on the problem in the summer of 1985. Management agreed, and an “O-ring Task Team” was created.

And it was Boisjoly who was the last voice still arguing on launch eve that the shuttle liftoff should wait for warmer weather. This time, he lost the battle.