Who bears the burden of proof has consequencesfor which side may prevail in a court of law--and in other contextsas well.

The burden of proof at NASA, in the 1970s, was on thosewho claimed a spacecraft was safe to launch. Justprior to the 1986 Challenger disaster, the burden wasshifted: the vehicle was presumed safe, and engineersraising doubts about its safety bore the burden of proving 'genuinerisk' in order to stop the launch.

Morton Thiokol's engineers could show reasonable grounds forconcern (O-rings had not been tested in freezing cold), but theyhad not set up tests to demonstrate that the O-rings actually wouldmalfunction in the cold, and cause an explosion. Testing takes timeand resources--and cost benefit analysis often suggests benefits ofproceeding with less, rather than more, testing.

Identify criteria used in deciding who bears the burden of prooffrom the list of criteria below:

A. Taking precaution to ensure safety costs money and time.

True/False?

B. There were other factors that might explain the failure ofthe launch besides the O-ring failure.

True/False?

C. There are always addition factors that might explain a systemfailure and so the suggestion that the failure was due to shiftingthe burden of proof is bogus.

True/False?

D. The model suggests that the cause of the shuttle disaster isconclusively known.

True/False?