The Epistemic Integrity of NASA Practices in the Space Shuttle Program |
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Authors: | Jan De Winter M.A. Laszlo Kosolosky M.Phil |
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Affiliation: | 1. Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science, Department of Philosophy and moral sciences , Ghent University , Ghent , Belgium Jan.DeWinter@UGent.be;3. Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science, Department of Philosophy and moral sciences , Ghent University , Ghent , Belgium |
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Abstract: | This article presents an account of epistemic integrity and uses it to demonstrate that the epistemic integrity of different kinds of practices in NASA's Space Shuttle Program was limited. We focus on the following kinds of practices: (1) research by working engineers, (2) review by middle-level managers, and (3) communication with the public. We argue that the epistemic integrity of these practices was undermined by production pressure at NASA, i.e., the pressure to launch an unreasonable amount of flights per year. Finally, our findings are used to develop some potential strategies to protect epistemic integrity in aerospace science. |
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Keywords: | aerospace science deception epistemic integrity NASA production pressure Space Shuttle |
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