> Even in the case of the
    > Challenger, no single article
    > say WHO was the executive
    > that finally approved the launch.

The people who made the final decision were Jerald Mason (SVP), Robert Lund, Joe Kilminster and Calvin Wiggins (all VP's).

See page 94 of the Rogers commission report[1]: "a final management review was conducted by Mason, Lund, Kilminster, and Wiggins".

Page 108 has their full names as part of a timeline of events at NASA and Morton Thiokol.

1. https://sma.nasa.gov/SignificantIncidents/assets/rogers_comm...