Global Matters Weekly – Why we pay attention to seemingly small risks

When it comes to risk management, a little bit of paranoia is probably a good thing. This applies when managing your finances, but history tells us that it is even more critical in the field of aerospace engineering. On the morning of 28 January 1986, the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger tragically fell victim to one such failure as their spacecraft disintegrated a mere 73 seconds after launch. The cause of the accident was a seemingly insignificant faulty part, namely the rubber O-ring. These O-rings were a mere 7.1 millimetres in diameter, yet the malfunction had the gravest of consequences.