History of Science and Technology Colloquium

Most images of spaceflight stress the flight and living and working in space. Few give attention to the work that goes on before liftoff, to the ground operations that take place at the Kennedy Space Center. In contrast to the emphasis given systems engineering and program management by scholars such as Thomas Hughes, this paper will explore the operational side of the technology of space flight.

Questioning the highly rational view of management structures and the designed centered logic of systems engineering, I argue that significant new knowledge is generated at the operational level. Differences in the culture of the operations and design communities have, however, obscured the importance of hands on learning and the highly innovative and even experimental nature of operational work. The Challenger and Columbia accidents and the failure of the space shuttle to live up to its promises reflect the subordination of operations and the overly abstract systems engineering and management structures of the space program.