According to Department of Philosophy and Department of Mechanical Engineering: Thiokol (variously Thiokol Chemical Corporation, Morton-Thiokol Inc., Cordant Technologies Inc., Thiokol Propulsion, AIC Group, ATK Thiokol, ATK Launch Systems Group; finally Orbital ATK before becoming part of Northrop Grumman) was an American corporation concerned initially with rubber and related chemicals, and later with rocket and missile propulsion systems. 30 Years After Explosion, Challenger Engineer Still Blames Himself : The Two-Way Bob Ebeling, an anonymous source for NPR's 1986 report on the disaster, tells NPR … The managers at Morton-Thiokol, including Joe Kilminster and Jerald Mason, however, argued that the launch was safe. Key Dates 1974 - Morton-Thiokol awarded contract to build solid rocket boosters. 1976 - NASA accepts Morton-Thiokol's booster design. Joe Kilminster, the Vice-President of Space Booster Programs at Morton Thiokol, Inc. (MTI), flipped the teleconference switch in the MTI conference room on January 27th, 1986. NASA, however, pushed back, saying the link between temperature and blow-by was inconclusive. Joe Kilminster - Engineer in a management position Jerald Mason - Senior Executive who encouraged Lund to reassess his decision not to launch. MTI had successfully created the Solid Rocket Booster, the first solid fuel propellant system, for the NASA Space Shuttle and it had worked without fail in all 24 Shuttle launches. 1977 - Morton-Thiokol discovers joint rotation problem. On January 28, 1986, as the Space Shuttle Challenger broke up over the Atlantic Ocean 73 seconds into its flight, Allan McDonald looked on in shock -- despite the fact that the night before, he had refused to sign the launch recommendation over safety concerns. CHICAGO -- Two of the four Morton Thiokol Inc. vice presidents who overruled engineers and approved the launch of the ill-fated shuttle Challenger will … A Morton Thiokol executive at the May 2 hearing denied that the engineers had been demoted but conceded that they had been reassigned in what he said was a broad reorganization. Joe Kilminster, vice president of Thiokol’s space booster program, at first backed the engineers’ no-launch decision. Joe C. Kilminster, one of the Thiokol vice presidents who overruled their engineers' recommendation against launching, told the panel: "Obviously we were wrong. Joe Kilminster, an engineer, and the Vice President or Space Booster Programs at Thiokol, was one of four management signatories who approved the launch and the author of the written recommendation that it was all right for the shuttle to fly (Jennings). The engineers at Morton-Thiokol recommended that the launch be delayed so that more tests could be run on launching in cold weather. One of Boisjoly's most critical memos before the launch was directed at Joe C. Kilminster, Morton Thiokol vice president in charge of space …