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Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite History & Biography (2024)Listening Length: 16 hours and 54 minutes
The definitive, dramatic, minute-by-minute story of the Challenger disaster based on new archival research and in-depth reporting.
On January 28, 1986, just seventy-three seconds into flight, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven people on board. Millions of Americans witnessed the tragic deaths of a crew including New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. Like 9/11 or JFK’s assassination, the Challenger disaster is a defining moment in 20th-century history—yet the details of what took place that day, and why, have largely been forgotten. Until now.
Based on extensive archival records and meticulous, original reporting, Challenger follows a handful of central protagonists—including each of the seven members of the doomed crew—through the years leading up to the accident, a detailed account of the tragedy itself, and into the investigation that followed. It’s a tale of optimism and promise undermined by political cynicism and cost-cutting in the interests of burnishing national prestige; of hubris and heroism; and of an investigation driven by leakers and whistleblowers determined to bring the truth to light. Throughout, there are the ominous warning signs of a tragedy to come, recognized but then ignored, and ultimately kept from the public.
Higginbotham reveals the history of the shuttle program, the lives of men and women whose stories have been overshadowed by the disaster as well as the designers, engineers, and test pilots who struggled against the odds to get the first shuttle into space.
The definitive, dramatic, minute-by-minute story of the Challenger disaster based on new archival research and in-depth reporting.
On January 28, 1986, just seventy-three seconds into flight, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven people on board. Millions of Americans witnessed the tragic deaths of a crew including New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. Like 9/11 or JFK’s assassination, the Challenger disaster is a defining moment in 20th-century history—yet the details of what took place that day, and why, have largely been forgotten. Until now.
Based on extensive archival records and meticulous, original reporting, Challenger follows a handful of central protagonists—including each of the seven members of the doomed crew—through the years leading up to the accident, a detailed account of the tragedy itself, and into the investigation that followed. It’s a tale of optimism and promise undermined by political cynicism and cost-cutting in the interests of burnishing national prestige; of hubris and heroism; and of an investigation driven by leakers and whistleblowers determined to bring the truth to light. Throughout, there are the ominous warning signs of a tragedy to come, recognized but then ignored, and ultimately kept from the public.
Higginbotham reveals the history of the shuttle program, the lives of men and women whose stories have been overshadowed by the disaster as well as the designers, engineers, and test pilots who struggled against the odds to get the first shuttle into space.
17 pages, Audible Audio
First published May 14, 2024
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June 8, 2024
“The flame grew in intensity, deflected down in the slipstream of the rising spacecraft until it made contact with the external fuel tank, close to one of the three steel struts securing the bottom of the booster to the spine of the shuttle stack. Yet neither the instruments on Challenger’s flight deck nor the readings on the consoles in Houston gave any indication that anything was wrong. The onboard computers, struggling to keep the orbiter flying true, swiveled the nozzle of the left-hand booster outward to compensate for the loss of pressure in its malfunctioning twin.
‘Challenger, go at throttle up,’ the CapCom radioed from Mission Control.
‘Roger, go at throttle up,’ said [Dick] Scobee.
Burning at more than 6,000 degrees, in less than three seconds the errant flame escaping from the booster encircled the circumference of the giant external tank, incinerated its insulation, cut through its aluminum skin, and ruptured the welds of the pressurized fuel tank membrane within. A plume of liquid hydrogen burst into the slipstream of the rocket engines, where it ignited…”
- Adam Higginbotham, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space
The explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986, is literally one of the earliest memories of my life. There is no good reason for this. I was not at the doomed launch; I didn’t know anyone onboard the craft; and Christa McAuliffe was not my teacher. Rather, it just so happened that the story of the Shuttle’s demise, seventy-three seconds after liftoff, interrupted my cartoons, and I ended up watching endless replays of the midair explosion.
Later, my dad – utilizing our brand-new VCR in ways that seem quaint today – recorded the footage. My brother and I rewatched it so often that we could recite all the lines spoken by Mission Control, the Shuttle itself, and NASA public affairs, right down to the understated conclusion: “Obviously a major malfunction.” In one of those flukes of memory, the Challenger’s death imprinted itself on my consciousness, where it never really left.
Given this background, I snapped up Adam Higginbotham’s Challenger the moment it came available. My expectations for it were enormous. After all, in his excellent Midnight in Chernobyl, Higginbotham showed that he has a deft touch with the disasters of 1986. Having concluded, I can truly say that my hopes were met – and often exceeded – in this epic saga of high technology, executive agency politics, and bureaucratic incompetence.
***
Despite its title, Challenger is about a lot more than the abruptly terminated flight of STS-51-L, the 25th mission of NASA’s Shuttle program. In fact, it starts all the way back in 1967, with the launchpad fire that killed Apollo I astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chafee. From there, Higginbotham moves forward through time, showing how the seeds of eventual disaster were planted, tended by ineptitude, and finally bore a deadly crop nineteen years later, in the skies over the Atlantic Ocean.
To that end, Challenger’s 450-pages of text are broken into three large sections. The first broadly covers the end of the Apollo Program, and the knotty question of what’s next? that NASA had to answer to remain in business. The second section involves the genesis of the Space Shuttle Program, born of the dream of a reusable spacecraft that could make routine flights to space and back, thereby decreasing costs and normalizing travel outside of our globe. The final section covers the loss of the Challenger, and the search for answers from a once-transparent agency that now sought to cover its backside.
***
The backbone of the narrative is the checkered career of the Space Shuttle. According to Higginbotham, the Space Shuttle became the most complicated machine ever constructed. With so many moving parts, there were numerous points of failure, all of which were subjected to enormous physical stresses. Two points in particular would eventually result in calamity: the delicate carbon-carbon heat tiles covering the underside of the shuttle, which would absorb the fantastical furnace of reentry; and the O-ring seals at the joints of the Shuttle’s solid rocket booster, which were meant to keep hot gasses from escaping.
As he did with Midnight in Chernobyl, Higginbotham does a masterful job explaining the technologies involved. He finds that exquisite balance between too much detail and not enough. I am not – you may have gathered – a rocket scientist. Yet I felt like I understood the basic mechanics of Morton Thiokol’s solid rocket boosters, how they worked, and the deadly flaw woven into the powerful engines.
***
Beyond the hardware, Higginbotham embraces many other topics of interest, including the labyrinthine decision-making process employed by NASA; the fraught relationship between management and engineers, especially between NASA managers and the private contractors from Morton Thiokol who constructed the solid rocket boosters; the recruitment of black and female astronauts into a world once dominated by white test pilots with crew cuts; and the sustained public relations campaign waged by NASA, culminating in the Teacher in Space Project.
Expertly threaded into this tale is the lives of the Challenger Seven: Francis Scobee; Michael J. Smith; Ronald McNair; Ellison Onizuka; Judith Resnik; Gregory Jarvis; and Christa McAuliffe. The crew represented a new breed of astronaut. These were not the drunk driving quasi-assholes of Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff, the hotshot products of an only-recently desegregated military. Instead, they were extremely smart, extremely high functioning, but also chosen for their abilities to get along with others in close quarters, a long, long way from home.
They also – it should be noted – represented a true cross-section of the United States, with a black man, an Asian-American man, and two women part of the crew. Thus, when the craft came apart at an altitude of 46,000 feet, it truly seemed that America itself had blown apart.
***
To me, Higginbotham’s long leadup to the actual disaster – it takes him 300 pages to get to January 1986 – is a virtue, not a flaw. It answered all the questions I had, while presenting a compelling story that is emotionally engaging, intellectually satisfying, and more than a little infuriating. This is done with strong prose, an elegant structure that seamlessly combines all the different elements mentioned above, and Higginbotham’s signature research, which is collected in 62 pages of annotated notes.
I recognize, however, that my big-book bias is not shared by all. Accordingly, it’s worth mentioning. If you’re looking for a concise and streamlined take, this is not it.
***
A single thought kept recurring as I made my way through Challenger: how many geniuses does it take to kill seven Americans on live television? Turns out, it’s quite a lot. The men and women who played roles in the destruction of both the Challenger and Columbia were not evil. They were part of a process in which high risks became acceptable ones. Aeronautical engineers talk about an aircraft’s “flight envelope,” representing the operational limits for safe flight. When a craft goes outside its envelope, problems follow. What Higginbotham describes – with a thrilling, forensic deconstruction – is problems with the “thought envelope,” especially among senior members of management.
For them, each close call – and there were several – gave them more confidence, when it should have given them less. Each time the Shuttle went up and came down, despite scorched O-rings or falling insulation or damaged heat tiles, they became more certain that nothing would go wrong, rather than recognizing that things were already going wrong, in very serious ways.
There is – of course – inherent risk in space travel, as there is inherent risk in everything we do in life, whether it’s cross the street, drive a car, or eat fast food. When you are riding 500 tons of propellant at Mach 1.92, things can go south. Nevertheless, the Space Shuttle program eventually reached a point where the odds of a lethal event – “loss of vehicle, mission, and crew” in the sterile parlance of NASA – were estimated to occur once every eighteen to thirty missions.
Upper management tweaked these numbers, and ignored their implications, because to acknowledge them meant the end of the Shuttle Program, and perhaps the end of NASA.
***
Today, NASA is moving forward with the Artemis Program, a successor to the Space Shuttle that has a design not unlike Apollo. I have no idea how that is progressing, and Higginbotham makes no comment about it. I wish it the best, though, because I feel like America loses something if it entirely cedes space to China, Russia, or a private corporation. There is something inspiring about flinging oneself boldly at the stars.
Even if things go wrong sometimes.
The Challenger Seven did not want to die in a horrific chain of events that tore their orbiter to pieces, and slammed them into the ocean with dismembering force. Certainly, they did not deserve to die. Ultimately, though, they were willing to risk death for the rare opportunity – granted to an infinitesimal fraction of a fraction of a fraction of all those who’ve ever lived – to look back on earth from the heavens.
‘Challenger, go at throttle up,’ the CapCom radioed from Mission Control.
‘Roger, go at throttle up,’ said [Dick] Scobee.
Burning at more than 6,000 degrees, in less than three seconds the errant flame escaping from the booster encircled the circumference of the giant external tank, incinerated its insulation, cut through its aluminum skin, and ruptured the welds of the pressurized fuel tank membrane within. A plume of liquid hydrogen burst into the slipstream of the rocket engines, where it ignited…”
- Adam Higginbotham, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space
The explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986, is literally one of the earliest memories of my life. There is no good reason for this. I was not at the doomed launch; I didn’t know anyone onboard the craft; and Christa McAuliffe was not my teacher. Rather, it just so happened that the story of the Shuttle’s demise, seventy-three seconds after liftoff, interrupted my cartoons, and I ended up watching endless replays of the midair explosion.
Later, my dad – utilizing our brand-new VCR in ways that seem quaint today – recorded the footage. My brother and I rewatched it so often that we could recite all the lines spoken by Mission Control, the Shuttle itself, and NASA public affairs, right down to the understated conclusion: “Obviously a major malfunction.” In one of those flukes of memory, the Challenger’s death imprinted itself on my consciousness, where it never really left.
Given this background, I snapped up Adam Higginbotham’s Challenger the moment it came available. My expectations for it were enormous. After all, in his excellent Midnight in Chernobyl, Higginbotham showed that he has a deft touch with the disasters of 1986. Having concluded, I can truly say that my hopes were met – and often exceeded – in this epic saga of high technology, executive agency politics, and bureaucratic incompetence.
***
Despite its title, Challenger is about a lot more than the abruptly terminated flight of STS-51-L, the 25th mission of NASA’s Shuttle program. In fact, it starts all the way back in 1967, with the launchpad fire that killed Apollo I astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chafee. From there, Higginbotham moves forward through time, showing how the seeds of eventual disaster were planted, tended by ineptitude, and finally bore a deadly crop nineteen years later, in the skies over the Atlantic Ocean.
To that end, Challenger’s 450-pages of text are broken into three large sections. The first broadly covers the end of the Apollo Program, and the knotty question of what’s next? that NASA had to answer to remain in business. The second section involves the genesis of the Space Shuttle Program, born of the dream of a reusable spacecraft that could make routine flights to space and back, thereby decreasing costs and normalizing travel outside of our globe. The final section covers the loss of the Challenger, and the search for answers from a once-transparent agency that now sought to cover its backside.
***
The backbone of the narrative is the checkered career of the Space Shuttle. According to Higginbotham, the Space Shuttle became the most complicated machine ever constructed. With so many moving parts, there were numerous points of failure, all of which were subjected to enormous physical stresses. Two points in particular would eventually result in calamity: the delicate carbon-carbon heat tiles covering the underside of the shuttle, which would absorb the fantastical furnace of reentry; and the O-ring seals at the joints of the Shuttle’s solid rocket booster, which were meant to keep hot gasses from escaping.
As he did with Midnight in Chernobyl, Higginbotham does a masterful job explaining the technologies involved. He finds that exquisite balance between too much detail and not enough. I am not – you may have gathered – a rocket scientist. Yet I felt like I understood the basic mechanics of Morton Thiokol’s solid rocket boosters, how they worked, and the deadly flaw woven into the powerful engines.
***
Beyond the hardware, Higginbotham embraces many other topics of interest, including the labyrinthine decision-making process employed by NASA; the fraught relationship between management and engineers, especially between NASA managers and the private contractors from Morton Thiokol who constructed the solid rocket boosters; the recruitment of black and female astronauts into a world once dominated by white test pilots with crew cuts; and the sustained public relations campaign waged by NASA, culminating in the Teacher in Space Project.
Expertly threaded into this tale is the lives of the Challenger Seven: Francis Scobee; Michael J. Smith; Ronald McNair; Ellison Onizuka; Judith Resnik; Gregory Jarvis; and Christa McAuliffe. The crew represented a new breed of astronaut. These were not the drunk driving quasi-assholes of Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff, the hotshot products of an only-recently desegregated military. Instead, they were extremely smart, extremely high functioning, but also chosen for their abilities to get along with others in close quarters, a long, long way from home.
They also – it should be noted – represented a true cross-section of the United States, with a black man, an Asian-American man, and two women part of the crew. Thus, when the craft came apart at an altitude of 46,000 feet, it truly seemed that America itself had blown apart.
***
To me, Higginbotham’s long leadup to the actual disaster – it takes him 300 pages to get to January 1986 – is a virtue, not a flaw. It answered all the questions I had, while presenting a compelling story that is emotionally engaging, intellectually satisfying, and more than a little infuriating. This is done with strong prose, an elegant structure that seamlessly combines all the different elements mentioned above, and Higginbotham’s signature research, which is collected in 62 pages of annotated notes.
I recognize, however, that my big-book bias is not shared by all. Accordingly, it’s worth mentioning. If you’re looking for a concise and streamlined take, this is not it.
***
A single thought kept recurring as I made my way through Challenger: how many geniuses does it take to kill seven Americans on live television? Turns out, it’s quite a lot. The men and women who played roles in the destruction of both the Challenger and Columbia were not evil. They were part of a process in which high risks became acceptable ones. Aeronautical engineers talk about an aircraft’s “flight envelope,” representing the operational limits for safe flight. When a craft goes outside its envelope, problems follow. What Higginbotham describes – with a thrilling, forensic deconstruction – is problems with the “thought envelope,” especially among senior members of management.
For them, each close call – and there were several – gave them more confidence, when it should have given them less. Each time the Shuttle went up and came down, despite scorched O-rings or falling insulation or damaged heat tiles, they became more certain that nothing would go wrong, rather than recognizing that things were already going wrong, in very serious ways.
There is – of course – inherent risk in space travel, as there is inherent risk in everything we do in life, whether it’s cross the street, drive a car, or eat fast food. When you are riding 500 tons of propellant at Mach 1.92, things can go south. Nevertheless, the Space Shuttle program eventually reached a point where the odds of a lethal event – “loss of vehicle, mission, and crew” in the sterile parlance of NASA – were estimated to occur once every eighteen to thirty missions.
Upper management tweaked these numbers, and ignored their implications, because to acknowledge them meant the end of the Shuttle Program, and perhaps the end of NASA.
***
Today, NASA is moving forward with the Artemis Program, a successor to the Space Shuttle that has a design not unlike Apollo. I have no idea how that is progressing, and Higginbotham makes no comment about it. I wish it the best, though, because I feel like America loses something if it entirely cedes space to China, Russia, or a private corporation. There is something inspiring about flinging oneself boldly at the stars.
Even if things go wrong sometimes.
The Challenger Seven did not want to die in a horrific chain of events that tore their orbiter to pieces, and slammed them into the ocean with dismembering force. Certainly, they did not deserve to die. Ultimately, though, they were willing to risk death for the rare opportunity – granted to an infinitesimal fraction of a fraction of a fraction of all those who’ve ever lived – to look back on earth from the heavens.
June 24, 2025
Goodness, what a beautiful book this was. Five big stars. I know I’ve found a great book when I purposefully start reading slower so the experience won’t end so soon.
If you mention NASA’s space shuttle program, then ask an average person to describe that program, pretty much everyone will recall either the Challenger explosion or the Columbia disaster. The space shuttle flew for more than 30 years and successfully completed 135 missions...yet the program’s two failures continue to be its legacy.
It’s just not fair. I don’t think that the world quite realizes the impossible task that was put before the engineers at NASA:
* Start by funding, then building, the most complicated machine in the history of humanity.
* Then, make that machine so secure that human beings can live inside it and be completely protected from extreme heat, cold, pressure and radiation.
* Next, strap that machine to 4 million pounds of explosives...and light it on fire.
* Then, accelerate that gigantic machine to 17,000 mph (5x the speed of a bullet).
* Next, toss the whole thing into outer space, one of the most hostile environments ever known.
* Then, drop that machine back into the earth’s atmosphere and do your best to burn it to a cinder by subjecting it to 3000 degree heat from friction with the earth’s atmosphere.
* Next, without using powered flight, land that machine on a 300-foot wide runway on the coast of Florida.
* Finally, repeat the above steps 135 times, all while experiencing major budget cuts...and never allow a major error.
Adam Higginbotham has written a story for the ages. This incredibly thorough book captures every moment of joy, worry, celebration and pain that hundreds of people experienced during the space shuttle Challenger’s amazing run. He has compiled it all into a heart-pounding, narrative that reads like a thrilling adventure novel...but it’s all true.
The writing is clear, concise, and often quite poetic. Higginbotham has a way of describing events and emotions that draw you in and make you feel like you’re right there, experiencing the highs and lows alongside the characters. Higginbotham knows how to keep the narrative moving, with just the right amount of detail to keep you engaged without getting bogged down.
I was struck by how accessible the book is. Higginbotham doesn’t assume you have a background in space science or engineering. He explains the technical details in a way that’s easy to understand without feeling dumbed down. It's clear he put a lot of effort into making sure the book is assessable for all of us.
The book also does a fantastic job of setting the historical context. Higginbotham takes us through the development of the Space Shuttle program, the political pressures, and the cultural climate of the 1980s. This really helped me to understand the broader picture of why certain decisions were made and how those decisions led to the disaster.
What I think made this book so outstanding was the mind-blowing amount of research the author did on the entire Challenger program. It seems as though he managed to interview pretty much every human alive who even remotely interacted with Challenger and her team. Every one of these people has an indelible memory of their moments inside this tragic tale.
Too many history writers forget that great history books are built around great stories, not facts. The best non-fiction books are intimate affairs with a deeply personal glimpse into the lives of flesh-and-blood people on the front lines of history’s most momentous times. These books disclose the doubts, the hopes and the mistakes of the these fascinating and deeply flawed characters.
And that’s what this book delivers: deeply moving personal stories from all the amazing people who had a front row seat to this tragedy.
-We hear the worried thoughts of the man who stared into Christa McCullough’s terrified eyes as he bolted close Challenger’s crew door, just minutes away from her death.
-We hear from the staff at the Florida hotel where the terrified families waited for news of the Challenger’s fate.
-We hear from the shocked deep sea diver who discovered the remains of the crew on the ocean floor.
Higginbotham tells amazingly intimate stories of the astronauts and all the major players in this poignant drama. It gives us a deeply personal glimpse into their lives, their dreams, and the intense preparation they went through. It’s impossible not to feel a sense of connection and empathy for these hopeful people who were so passionate about exploring space. Their stories are told with such respect and care that it adds a deeply touching element to this tragedy.
The investigative angle of this book also makes it a thrilling whodunit. Higginbotham covers the post-disaster investigation in great detail, uncovering the flaws and oversights within NASA and its contractors. We get to play detective as we follow the investigators piecing together what went wrong.
Higginbotham doesn’t point fingers but rather presents the facts and lets the readers come to their own conclusions. It’s a balanced account that acknowledges the immense achievements of the space program while also highlighting its vulnerabilities. This compassion makes the book feel fair and objective, which I really appreciated.
To sum it all up, “Challenger” is not just a great history book; it’s an incredibly well-researched journey that reads with all the excitement of a heart-pounding adventure tale. Higginbotham’s meticulous attention to detail and commitment to uncovering the new details bring a new depth to the story of the Challenger disaster. His ability to weave technical insights with personal narratives and historical context makes this book a standout. Whether you’re a space enthusiast or simply someone who enjoys a gripping, well-told tale, “Challenger” is a must-read. It’s a testament to the power of thorough research and masterful storytelling. It left me informed and deeply moved.
If you mention NASA’s space shuttle program, then ask an average person to describe that program, pretty much everyone will recall either the Challenger explosion or the Columbia disaster. The space shuttle flew for more than 30 years and successfully completed 135 missions...yet the program’s two failures continue to be its legacy.
It’s just not fair. I don’t think that the world quite realizes the impossible task that was put before the engineers at NASA:
* Start by funding, then building, the most complicated machine in the history of humanity.
* Then, make that machine so secure that human beings can live inside it and be completely protected from extreme heat, cold, pressure and radiation.
* Next, strap that machine to 4 million pounds of explosives...and light it on fire.
* Then, accelerate that gigantic machine to 17,000 mph (5x the speed of a bullet).
* Next, toss the whole thing into outer space, one of the most hostile environments ever known.
* Then, drop that machine back into the earth’s atmosphere and do your best to burn it to a cinder by subjecting it to 3000 degree heat from friction with the earth’s atmosphere.
* Next, without using powered flight, land that machine on a 300-foot wide runway on the coast of Florida.
* Finally, repeat the above steps 135 times, all while experiencing major budget cuts...and never allow a major error.
Adam Higginbotham has written a story for the ages. This incredibly thorough book captures every moment of joy, worry, celebration and pain that hundreds of people experienced during the space shuttle Challenger’s amazing run. He has compiled it all into a heart-pounding, narrative that reads like a thrilling adventure novel...but it’s all true.
The writing is clear, concise, and often quite poetic. Higginbotham has a way of describing events and emotions that draw you in and make you feel like you’re right there, experiencing the highs and lows alongside the characters. Higginbotham knows how to keep the narrative moving, with just the right amount of detail to keep you engaged without getting bogged down.
I was struck by how accessible the book is. Higginbotham doesn’t assume you have a background in space science or engineering. He explains the technical details in a way that’s easy to understand without feeling dumbed down. It's clear he put a lot of effort into making sure the book is assessable for all of us.
The book also does a fantastic job of setting the historical context. Higginbotham takes us through the development of the Space Shuttle program, the political pressures, and the cultural climate of the 1980s. This really helped me to understand the broader picture of why certain decisions were made and how those decisions led to the disaster.
What I think made this book so outstanding was the mind-blowing amount of research the author did on the entire Challenger program. It seems as though he managed to interview pretty much every human alive who even remotely interacted with Challenger and her team. Every one of these people has an indelible memory of their moments inside this tragic tale.
Too many history writers forget that great history books are built around great stories, not facts. The best non-fiction books are intimate affairs with a deeply personal glimpse into the lives of flesh-and-blood people on the front lines of history’s most momentous times. These books disclose the doubts, the hopes and the mistakes of the these fascinating and deeply flawed characters.
And that’s what this book delivers: deeply moving personal stories from all the amazing people who had a front row seat to this tragedy.
-We hear the worried thoughts of the man who stared into Christa McCullough’s terrified eyes as he bolted close Challenger’s crew door, just minutes away from her death.
-We hear from the staff at the Florida hotel where the terrified families waited for news of the Challenger’s fate.
-We hear from the shocked deep sea diver who discovered the remains of the crew on the ocean floor.
Higginbotham tells amazingly intimate stories of the astronauts and all the major players in this poignant drama. It gives us a deeply personal glimpse into their lives, their dreams, and the intense preparation they went through. It’s impossible not to feel a sense of connection and empathy for these hopeful people who were so passionate about exploring space. Their stories are told with such respect and care that it adds a deeply touching element to this tragedy.
The investigative angle of this book also makes it a thrilling whodunit. Higginbotham covers the post-disaster investigation in great detail, uncovering the flaws and oversights within NASA and its contractors. We get to play detective as we follow the investigators piecing together what went wrong.
Higginbotham doesn’t point fingers but rather presents the facts and lets the readers come to their own conclusions. It’s a balanced account that acknowledges the immense achievements of the space program while also highlighting its vulnerabilities. This compassion makes the book feel fair and objective, which I really appreciated.
To sum it all up, “Challenger” is not just a great history book; it’s an incredibly well-researched journey that reads with all the excitement of a heart-pounding adventure tale. Higginbotham’s meticulous attention to detail and commitment to uncovering the new details bring a new depth to the story of the Challenger disaster. His ability to weave technical insights with personal narratives and historical context makes this book a standout. Whether you’re a space enthusiast or simply someone who enjoys a gripping, well-told tale, “Challenger” is a must-read. It’s a testament to the power of thorough research and masterful storytelling. It left me informed and deeply moved.
May 9, 2024
Sometimes books make me nervous. With Adam Higginbotham's Challenger, I worried there was no way it could reach the heights of his previous book, Midnight at Chernobyl. Great news, I had nothing to worry about.
Higginbotham can now be considered an expert at taking a tragedy and deconstructing it while engaging the reader at every turn. As someone who can easily get sleepy when I read too much science, this is no small feat to keep me focused. Challenger is the story of the space shuttle disaster in 1986. If you are an American, you either saw it happen or heard about it in school. Like Chernobyl, it is a major event in history which is not fully understood. Higginbotham seeks to fix that and does so.
This book will leave you heartbroken, tired, and absolutely enraged. Seven people died not because of the vagaries of nature but due to amazing human hubris. Many narratives of tragedies spend their page count on the disaster and the gory aftermath. Challenger spends the vast majority of the time explaining not why Challenger happened but leaving the reader wondering how it didn't happen much sooner. Higginbotham is one of the few writers who can make even a boring science discussion seem propulsive. In fact, the book almost feels like a horror story at certain points as the author clearly leaves clues on what will ultimately be more casualties than just the crew of the Challenger.
I am writing this in February of 2024, but I can guarantee this will be in my top 5 books of the year. It's just science.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Avid Reader Press.)
Higginbotham can now be considered an expert at taking a tragedy and deconstructing it while engaging the reader at every turn. As someone who can easily get sleepy when I read too much science, this is no small feat to keep me focused. Challenger is the story of the space shuttle disaster in 1986. If you are an American, you either saw it happen or heard about it in school. Like Chernobyl, it is a major event in history which is not fully understood. Higginbotham seeks to fix that and does so.
This book will leave you heartbroken, tired, and absolutely enraged. Seven people died not because of the vagaries of nature but due to amazing human hubris. Many narratives of tragedies spend their page count on the disaster and the gory aftermath. Challenger spends the vast majority of the time explaining not why Challenger happened but leaving the reader wondering how it didn't happen much sooner. Higginbotham is one of the few writers who can make even a boring science discussion seem propulsive. In fact, the book almost feels like a horror story at certain points as the author clearly leaves clues on what will ultimately be more casualties than just the crew of the Challenger.
I am writing this in February of 2024, but I can guarantee this will be in my top 5 books of the year. It's just science.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Avid Reader Press.)
May 25, 2025
"We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God." President Raegan uttered these poignant words soon after the destruction of the Challenger Space Shuttle in 1986. It was an avoidable tragedy. Engineers had warned NASA's leadership the night prior to launch that the O-rings that sealed joints in the solid rocket boosters would fail in cold weather. These warnings were ignored. Seven people died: Francis Scobee, Michael Smith, Judith Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair, Christa McAuliffe, and Gregory Jarvis.
This book was meticulously researched and written. It was also riveting to read; although I knew the outcome, I was in suspense the whole time reading it. The author, Adam Higginbotham, provides a history of not only this disaster but the entire shuttle space program. The personalities of all those involved are vividly portrayed: the heroism, the anguish, the sorrow. Furthermore, his historical analysis was fair and impartial. The only time when Higginbotham's personal views became apparent was when discussing the Raegan Administration's attempts to militarise NASA's space program. In short, this book is excellent.
Despite disaster, there was almost unanimous support for ongoing space exploration. Politicians and the public alike recognised that being pioneers is inherently dangerous, and setbacks are inevitable. We should continue this pursuit into the never-ending final frontier, including colonising planets like Mars. As President Kennedy said regarding the ambition to land on the moon, "not because it is easy, but because it is hard." However, I would also add that we should expand space exploration because it is the epitome of human intelligence, temerity, and grit. It is a proclamation of our rationality and yearning to know the unknown.
This book was meticulously researched and written. It was also riveting to read; although I knew the outcome, I was in suspense the whole time reading it. The author, Adam Higginbotham, provides a history of not only this disaster but the entire shuttle space program. The personalities of all those involved are vividly portrayed: the heroism, the anguish, the sorrow. Furthermore, his historical analysis was fair and impartial. The only time when Higginbotham's personal views became apparent was when discussing the Raegan Administration's attempts to militarise NASA's space program. In short, this book is excellent.
Despite disaster, there was almost unanimous support for ongoing space exploration. Politicians and the public alike recognised that being pioneers is inherently dangerous, and setbacks are inevitable. We should continue this pursuit into the never-ending final frontier, including colonising planets like Mars. As President Kennedy said regarding the ambition to land on the moon, "not because it is easy, but because it is hard." However, I would also add that we should expand space exploration because it is the epitome of human intelligence, temerity, and grit. It is a proclamation of our rationality and yearning to know the unknown.
May 29, 2024
This is so well done. I loved this book and the style of storytelling. By the end I was just hoping they would do the right thing and call off the launch, though of course they didn't. Really appreciate Higginbotham highlighting the full story of the space program and the astronauts (not just McAuliffe). Really great investigative journalism. Its a page turner.
January 8, 2026
Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space is a spellbinding and riveting account of the Challenger disaster by Adam Higginbotham. It is a disaster that many of us watched happen before our very eyes on that fateful day in January 28, 1986. I was at work with my office adjacent to a waiting area for the Emergency Room. I went out to turn on the television to the coverage of the space launch, excited for the unique and groundbreaking crew aboard, including a schoolteacher from New Hampshire, Christa McAuliffe. And there was black astronaut, Ron McNair. A musician and an earlier astronaut on his first shuttle mission on the Challenger, McNair realized his dream and became the first man to play his saxophone in space. But alas, the musical interlude took place during one of the mission’s regular communication blackouts, so no one on the ground heard it. McNair knew then that he had to have one more flight. As the countdown continued more of us were gathered with excitement as we watched the launch. . . .
Just writing these words, I am still shaken to my core. There are no words for the horror and sadness and grief that we witnessed that day and still reverberate in our lives today. It was a defining moment in twentieth-century history. The author has done such a beautiful job in giving us a chronology of the events that led up to the seventy-three seconds into flight when the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven people on board on January 28, 1986 — Ellison Onizuka, Dick Scobee, Mike Smith, Greg Jarvis, Ron McNair, Judith Resnik, and Christa McAuliffe. Adam Higginbotham tells us in riveting detail the full story of what happened on that fateful day.
“In the bleachers, the crowd broke into more cheers as the incandescent cloud above them grew slowly larger. There was uncertain applause as the trails of the solid rockets emerged, drew apart, and then crossed. Men craned their necks toward the sky, raising long lenses and binoculars. . . As the roar of the rockets rolled back across Merritt Island from miles overhead. . . And the voice of NASA commentator Steve Nesbitt echoed once more from the speakers, with reassuring incantations of nominal flight: ‘One minute fifteen seconds. Velocity 2,900 feet per second,’ he said. ‘Altitude nine nautical miles. Downrange distance seven nautical miles.’ But of Challenger and her crew, there was no longer any sign.”
Just writing these words, I am still shaken to my core. There are no words for the horror and sadness and grief that we witnessed that day and still reverberate in our lives today. It was a defining moment in twentieth-century history. The author has done such a beautiful job in giving us a chronology of the events that led up to the seventy-three seconds into flight when the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven people on board on January 28, 1986 — Ellison Onizuka, Dick Scobee, Mike Smith, Greg Jarvis, Ron McNair, Judith Resnik, and Christa McAuliffe. Adam Higginbotham tells us in riveting detail the full story of what happened on that fateful day.
“Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds,—and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air. . .
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor ever eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.” — High Flight, John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
December 21, 2024
I enjoyed this but I just want to note that everyone is calling this a "thriller" and it is not! There was about 100 pages where I was very tense and very involved, but most of the book was not like that. Do not go in expecting to be frantically turning pages.
My big issue is actually all of the long leadup to Challenger, everything before those very tense pages as we got close to launch. There is a lot of material to cover. The history of the space program, the specifics of the engineering to make the shuttle, the inner workings of NASA, and the thousands of people along the way. I never felt like I was being pulled through a real narrative until we were close to launch. We hopped in and out of personal anecdotes, no person on the page stays around long enough to become a person you feel like you know. This isn't really Higginbotham's fault, the scope of the story he is trying to tell is massive. But I wanted to feel more like I was being directed through the story, like he had found me a narrative path, and I didn't feel that way. Maybe that's impossible with this much ground to cover.
The details of the launch, from the leadup to the investigation, are different. We really get to dive in in such a way that I finally felt satisfied. If anything I was just frustrated that this was the first time we got to really see how the decisionmaking processes worked, that there was not a clear enough contrast between how NASA said it should operate and how it actually operated. But this section is quite thorough, and absolutely devastating. Just the kind of book where you are constantly saying things out loud because it's so sad and awful and you can't believe people are behaving this way.
I am not sure there is a better way to present all this material, and this should satisfy most readers who want to feel like they really understand the disaster. I'm one of the kids who watched the Challenger disaster on television in my 1st grade classroom, and while it imprinted on me (one of my first memories!) my knowledge of it has grown very fuzzy and I appreciated the ability to correct a lot of my mis-rememberings.
My big issue is actually all of the long leadup to Challenger, everything before those very tense pages as we got close to launch. There is a lot of material to cover. The history of the space program, the specifics of the engineering to make the shuttle, the inner workings of NASA, and the thousands of people along the way. I never felt like I was being pulled through a real narrative until we were close to launch. We hopped in and out of personal anecdotes, no person on the page stays around long enough to become a person you feel like you know. This isn't really Higginbotham's fault, the scope of the story he is trying to tell is massive. But I wanted to feel more like I was being directed through the story, like he had found me a narrative path, and I didn't feel that way. Maybe that's impossible with this much ground to cover.
The details of the launch, from the leadup to the investigation, are different. We really get to dive in in such a way that I finally felt satisfied. If anything I was just frustrated that this was the first time we got to really see how the decisionmaking processes worked, that there was not a clear enough contrast between how NASA said it should operate and how it actually operated. But this section is quite thorough, and absolutely devastating. Just the kind of book where you are constantly saying things out loud because it's so sad and awful and you can't believe people are behaving this way.
I am not sure there is a better way to present all this material, and this should satisfy most readers who want to feel like they really understand the disaster. I'm one of the kids who watched the Challenger disaster on television in my 1st grade classroom, and while it imprinted on me (one of my first memories!) my knowledge of it has grown very fuzzy and I appreciated the ability to correct a lot of my mis-rememberings.
December 22, 2024
This is absolutely one of the most impressive works of nonfiction I've ever read. The research that must have gone into writing “Challenger” can only be described as epic. The history of the shuttle program here is comprehensive in its presentation, filled with so many details, facts, insights, and personalities. Somehow, though -- miraculously -- Higginbotham presents all this in a thoroughly engaging manner. No — more than engaging: compelling. I read this 450+ page book in two days. And the impressive thing is, although I knew what happened to Challenger (I remember where I was when it happened) Higginbotham makes the narrative suspenseful.
A digression: Ordinarily I wouldn't have read this book. So many books, so little time, right? The stellar reviews "Challenger" has been garnering, though, made me curious. So I put it on the Hold list at my local library. Apparently I was the first to do so because I got the notification the day it arrived. I am very glad I read those reviews. I thought I knew most of the key facts about the tragedy and the shuttle program. I thought wrong; I had no idea. The full story is so much more disturbing than I thought.
The book opens in 1967 when the three Apollo 1 astronauts died in a fire during a preflight test. We get a quick look at what had happened, how people — NASA officials, astronauts, families — responded, how the space program was put on hold while the causes of the disaster were identified and addressed, and how all this finally led to the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.
From here Higginbotham jumps ahead several years to the shuttle program. He introduces us to the key figures in NASA — astronauts and their families, managers, engineers — and the contractors who manufactured the rocket engines and components. He traces how attitudes toward the space program changed over time, how the launches became "routine" and the public stopped watching. In time this led Congress to cut the space program budget, which in turn led to changes in the organizational culture at NASA.
We see the reactions (inside and out-) to these changes, how the expansion of the space program to women and people of color met with resistance. When one astronaut learned, for example, that Blacks and women were being admitted he summarily quit. As for the women brought into the program, they were ‘cute oddities’: One nationally recognized TV interviewer asked Judy Resnick whether she was "too pretty" to be an astronaut. Higginbotham chronicles the ups and downs of the shuttle program. The competing egos, political shills, incompetence, the cutting of corners to save time and money, the pressure to launch at any cost, and the growing evidence — ignored by decision-makers — of dangerous flaws in the rockets.
The decision to have “citizen” astronauts took the form of a national competition to choose the NASA Teacher in Space. More than 11,000 teachers applied, among them some astonishingly accomplished individuals. Christa McCauliffe, a social studies teacher from New Hampshire, won. Higginbotham chronicles the selection process (the NASA psychologist who evaluated the finalists said of McCauliffe, “I know this doesn’t sound very scientific but I think she’s neat.”), McCauliffe’s feelings as she made her way through the competition, the resistance some in the aerospace community felt toward what they saw as basically a publicity stunt, the processes by which the rest of the shuttle crew was chosen and what they and their families were like, what they thought and felt, and the pressures in NASA and its contractors to get the shuttle up in the air.
It’s extraordinary and deeply disturbing, this part of the story. We learn for example that no matter what they were saying in public, NASA had developed a rather cavalier attitude about the safety of its astronauts. The laminated instruction sheet put in the capsule of what to do in the event of a major emergency was so useless that the astronauts darkly joked about how it was intended to be reading material for the seconds before they died. A NASA officer said of one escape plan that for the crew to survive would require “ten consecutive miracles followed by an act of God.”
Higginbotham slows the pace somewhat when he comes the days leading up to the Challenger shuttle launch, when the temperature in Florida dropped below freezing and the decision was being made about whether to abort the flight. Engineers inside the organization and elsewhere were increasingly anxious that the O-rings, which had already been seen as problematic, would fail if the launch were attempted in cold weather. We read of the anger and frustration these whistleblowers felt at being ignored by their superiors and the many times information that might lead to launch to be postponed was buried. When the tragedy finally occurs -- as I knew, of course, it would -- I found my eyes growing moist, a feeling quickly followed by anger at the people and system that let it happen. The book closes with a look at the commission convened by the Reagan administration to determine what went wrong.
I can’t recommend this book enough. (In fact, this afternoon I bought my daughter a hard copy of the book so she doesn't have to wait until it's available from the library.) "Challenger" will be on a lot of Best Books of the Year lists. As it should be.
And now I guess it's time for me to put Higginbotham's earlier book, "Midnight in Chernobyl," on the Hold list at my library.
A digression: Ordinarily I wouldn't have read this book. So many books, so little time, right? The stellar reviews "Challenger" has been garnering, though, made me curious. So I put it on the Hold list at my local library. Apparently I was the first to do so because I got the notification the day it arrived. I am very glad I read those reviews. I thought I knew most of the key facts about the tragedy and the shuttle program. I thought wrong; I had no idea. The full story is so much more disturbing than I thought.
The book opens in 1967 when the three Apollo 1 astronauts died in a fire during a preflight test. We get a quick look at what had happened, how people — NASA officials, astronauts, families — responded, how the space program was put on hold while the causes of the disaster were identified and addressed, and how all this finally led to the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.
From here Higginbotham jumps ahead several years to the shuttle program. He introduces us to the key figures in NASA — astronauts and their families, managers, engineers — and the contractors who manufactured the rocket engines and components. He traces how attitudes toward the space program changed over time, how the launches became "routine" and the public stopped watching. In time this led Congress to cut the space program budget, which in turn led to changes in the organizational culture at NASA.
We see the reactions (inside and out-) to these changes, how the expansion of the space program to women and people of color met with resistance. When one astronaut learned, for example, that Blacks and women were being admitted he summarily quit. As for the women brought into the program, they were ‘cute oddities’: One nationally recognized TV interviewer asked Judy Resnick whether she was "too pretty" to be an astronaut. Higginbotham chronicles the ups and downs of the shuttle program. The competing egos, political shills, incompetence, the cutting of corners to save time and money, the pressure to launch at any cost, and the growing evidence — ignored by decision-makers — of dangerous flaws in the rockets.
The decision to have “citizen” astronauts took the form of a national competition to choose the NASA Teacher in Space. More than 11,000 teachers applied, among them some astonishingly accomplished individuals. Christa McCauliffe, a social studies teacher from New Hampshire, won. Higginbotham chronicles the selection process (the NASA psychologist who evaluated the finalists said of McCauliffe, “I know this doesn’t sound very scientific but I think she’s neat.”), McCauliffe’s feelings as she made her way through the competition, the resistance some in the aerospace community felt toward what they saw as basically a publicity stunt, the processes by which the rest of the shuttle crew was chosen and what they and their families were like, what they thought and felt, and the pressures in NASA and its contractors to get the shuttle up in the air.
It’s extraordinary and deeply disturbing, this part of the story. We learn for example that no matter what they were saying in public, NASA had developed a rather cavalier attitude about the safety of its astronauts. The laminated instruction sheet put in the capsule of what to do in the event of a major emergency was so useless that the astronauts darkly joked about how it was intended to be reading material for the seconds before they died. A NASA officer said of one escape plan that for the crew to survive would require “ten consecutive miracles followed by an act of God.”
Higginbotham slows the pace somewhat when he comes the days leading up to the Challenger shuttle launch, when the temperature in Florida dropped below freezing and the decision was being made about whether to abort the flight. Engineers inside the organization and elsewhere were increasingly anxious that the O-rings, which had already been seen as problematic, would fail if the launch were attempted in cold weather. We read of the anger and frustration these whistleblowers felt at being ignored by their superiors and the many times information that might lead to launch to be postponed was buried. When the tragedy finally occurs -- as I knew, of course, it would -- I found my eyes growing moist, a feeling quickly followed by anger at the people and system that let it happen. The book closes with a look at the commission convened by the Reagan administration to determine what went wrong.
I can’t recommend this book enough. (In fact, this afternoon I bought my daughter a hard copy of the book so she doesn't have to wait until it's available from the library.) "Challenger" will be on a lot of Best Books of the Year lists. As it should be.
And now I guess it's time for me to put Higginbotham's earlier book, "Midnight in Chernobyl," on the Hold list at my library.
February 13, 2025
Znakomity reportaż obnażający jak często wartość ludzkiego życia przegrywa z „wagą” wyniku danego projektu.
December 20, 2024
Riveting. Wrenching. Haunting. And brilliant. Here's the tale of the spectacular human error, malfeasance, and bad judgment, that cost the seven-person crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger their lives. Higginbotham, who also wrote the devastating "Midnight in Chernobyl," has given us the story of the crew, the engineers, the scientists, and the bureaucrats behind the nightmare. Also? He introduces us to the heroes who fought AGAINST the launch that January day in 1986, the folks who feared that disaster loomed. We often call books "page-turners" or discuss how we couldn't put a book down. "Challenger" really is that sort of reading experience.
November 13, 2024
I love reading about historical events from my lifetime, but about which I have only a hazy memory. This book by Adam Higginbotham tackles the launch and explosion of the Challenger space shuttle in January 1986. From the lead-up to the launch date through to the reaction of the world as they watched the shuttle explode into a fireball, Higginbotham illustrates it all for the curious reader. Filled with technical explanations, this book examines many in lay terms and helps sow a sense of connection for the reader with many involved that fateful morning. A sensational piece of writing and historical depiction.
On the morning of January 28, 1986, a mere seventy-three seconds into the launch of the space shuttle Challenger, it exploded in front of millions on live television. Everyone on board died instantly, while many viewers would also have been highly disturbed. Amongst those on the shuttle, New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, a “teacher in space” candidate. As Adam Higginbotham explores the events leading up to the launch, he argues effectively that it would be one of those ‘where were you?’ moments. While it has been a generation since the event, this book seeks to refresh the reader’s memory and pluck at the heartstrings of anyone curious enough to delve in.
Higginbotham takes a great deal of time to explore the history of space launches, explaining both the race to space against the Soviets, and the triumphs of making it to the Moon. The story also looks to explain the various attempts to push the limits a little more and change the face of space for the layperson. Extensive exploration of the various people who were chosen as astronauts and their accreditation. This includes biographical explorations of those who would one day make it onto Challenger, and the hurdles they overcame to make it to the top of NASA’s list.
Higginbotham also seeks to put the launch of Challenger into perspective, including the extensive preparation to have every aspect of the shuttle honed just right to ensure success. People in positions of power made decisions in Washington, Houston, Cape Canaveral, and even Alabama, all parts of the larger puzzle that would support this launch. No aspect was too small and nothing was left to chance. As the launch date drew closer, various events took place to prepare for a number of first, the least of which would not be the inclusion of New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe on the mission. Her presence was an attempt to drum up added support by school children, many of whom would watch live that January morning. Excitement grew, as many wondered if the launch date would come to pass.
When the day arrived and no stoppages could be foreseen, the astronauts were loaded onto the space shuttle. The countdown ensued and everyone watched. After liftoff, everyone watched as Challenger inched higher into the air. It climbed, as did the excitement of many. Suddenly, Challenger exploded and became a fiery ball live on television. Everyone died immediately and disaster protocols were enacted. The horror of seeing it all on television was realised and the panic commenced as many tried to make sense of what happened and how they could have missed it. Studies and analysis ensued, all in a hives of learning what happened and how to change it for the next launch. A chilling story that explores the stunning build-up and disastrous let-down that Ianuary morning in 1986.
Adam Higginbotham’s work not only explores a piece of history, but a means of education for the future. The tome was surely a significant undertaking that shows the extent to which a single moment in history can have such a massive backstory to explain it. Higginbotham explores the event of the Challenger’s explosion and how it shaped the NASA space program for decades to come. The book provides the reader with context and extensive inside information before the age of 24-hour news cycles and social media dis- and misinformation. I was enthralled and could not ask for more from this book, whose chapters are packed with great information, documented with direct quotes and thorough interviews to help the reader understand events in better context. Higginbotham shows much determination and thoroughness to provide the reader with something well worth their time. The space race, the space program, and those who rode in the doomed Challenger space shuttle were all central to this book and help the reader understand all the nuances. A brilliant and somber read well worth their reader’s time.
Kudos, Mr. Higginbotham, for this stellar book.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
On the morning of January 28, 1986, a mere seventy-three seconds into the launch of the space shuttle Challenger, it exploded in front of millions on live television. Everyone on board died instantly, while many viewers would also have been highly disturbed. Amongst those on the shuttle, New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, a “teacher in space” candidate. As Adam Higginbotham explores the events leading up to the launch, he argues effectively that it would be one of those ‘where were you?’ moments. While it has been a generation since the event, this book seeks to refresh the reader’s memory and pluck at the heartstrings of anyone curious enough to delve in.
Higginbotham takes a great deal of time to explore the history of space launches, explaining both the race to space against the Soviets, and the triumphs of making it to the Moon. The story also looks to explain the various attempts to push the limits a little more and change the face of space for the layperson. Extensive exploration of the various people who were chosen as astronauts and their accreditation. This includes biographical explorations of those who would one day make it onto Challenger, and the hurdles they overcame to make it to the top of NASA’s list.
Higginbotham also seeks to put the launch of Challenger into perspective, including the extensive preparation to have every aspect of the shuttle honed just right to ensure success. People in positions of power made decisions in Washington, Houston, Cape Canaveral, and even Alabama, all parts of the larger puzzle that would support this launch. No aspect was too small and nothing was left to chance. As the launch date drew closer, various events took place to prepare for a number of first, the least of which would not be the inclusion of New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe on the mission. Her presence was an attempt to drum up added support by school children, many of whom would watch live that January morning. Excitement grew, as many wondered if the launch date would come to pass.
When the day arrived and no stoppages could be foreseen, the astronauts were loaded onto the space shuttle. The countdown ensued and everyone watched. After liftoff, everyone watched as Challenger inched higher into the air. It climbed, as did the excitement of many. Suddenly, Challenger exploded and became a fiery ball live on television. Everyone died immediately and disaster protocols were enacted. The horror of seeing it all on television was realised and the panic commenced as many tried to make sense of what happened and how they could have missed it. Studies and analysis ensued, all in a hives of learning what happened and how to change it for the next launch. A chilling story that explores the stunning build-up and disastrous let-down that Ianuary morning in 1986.
Adam Higginbotham’s work not only explores a piece of history, but a means of education for the future. The tome was surely a significant undertaking that shows the extent to which a single moment in history can have such a massive backstory to explain it. Higginbotham explores the event of the Challenger’s explosion and how it shaped the NASA space program for decades to come. The book provides the reader with context and extensive inside information before the age of 24-hour news cycles and social media dis- and misinformation. I was enthralled and could not ask for more from this book, whose chapters are packed with great information, documented with direct quotes and thorough interviews to help the reader understand events in better context. Higginbotham shows much determination and thoroughness to provide the reader with something well worth their time. The space race, the space program, and those who rode in the doomed Challenger space shuttle were all central to this book and help the reader understand all the nuances. A brilliant and somber read well worth their reader’s time.
Kudos, Mr. Higginbotham, for this stellar book.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
January 21, 2025
Every published review of this book describes it as a nonfiction narrative that reads “like a thriller,” which leads me to believe that most of these reviewers have … never read a thriller?
Because: This is not that. This book is dense, and that is fine because there is no way for it to be anything but dense. You cannot possibly expect otherwise from a comprehensive reconstruction of the Challenger disaster, told using a combination of new interviews and historical information, presented through the broader lens of the entire American space program, with all of the technical and scientific information that entails. This is not criticism — Adam Higginbotham does it flawlessly* and meticulously, giving you everything you need to know in a way that is not dull and mostly manages to keep the Challenger astronauts at the center of the story, right where they should be — but it is, plainly, a lot of information, and because of that, it does drag at times, in a distinctly unthriller way.
Basically my review of this book is that most other reviews of this book are misleading and dumb, even if we ultimately arrive at the same conclusion, which is that you should read it. But just, you know, understand what you're getting into. There is no "Gone Girl" twist here. There is no red herring or last-minute reveal. You already know the ending: The Challenger explodes. Higginbotham does his best to help you understand the how and why of it, and that, on its own, is plenty thrilling.
*the dude does fucking love a semicolon, though. Ninety percent of the time, it’s supposed to be a period. (In general. For Higginbotham, it’s more like 99%.) I’m just saying.
Because: This is not that. This book is dense, and that is fine because there is no way for it to be anything but dense. You cannot possibly expect otherwise from a comprehensive reconstruction of the Challenger disaster, told using a combination of new interviews and historical information, presented through the broader lens of the entire American space program, with all of the technical and scientific information that entails. This is not criticism — Adam Higginbotham does it flawlessly* and meticulously, giving you everything you need to know in a way that is not dull and mostly manages to keep the Challenger astronauts at the center of the story, right where they should be — but it is, plainly, a lot of information, and because of that, it does drag at times, in a distinctly unthriller way.
Basically my review of this book is that most other reviews of this book are misleading and dumb, even if we ultimately arrive at the same conclusion, which is that you should read it. But just, you know, understand what you're getting into. There is no "Gone Girl" twist here. There is no red herring or last-minute reveal. You already know the ending: The Challenger explodes. Higginbotham does his best to help you understand the how and why of it, and that, on its own, is plenty thrilling.
*the dude does fucking love a semicolon, though. Ninety percent of the time, it’s supposed to be a period. (In general. For Higginbotham, it’s more like 99%.) I’m just saying.
March 2, 2025
- Nie pamiętam, kto to powiedział, chyba Deke Slayton, choć może przypisuję zasługi niewłaściwemu astronaucie – mówił. – Kiedy zapytano go, o czym myśli, gdy znajduje się w kapsule, odparł:
„O tym, że każda część statku została zbudowana przez oferenta, który zaproponował najniższą cenę”.
1986 rok został naznaczony dwoma ogromnymi tragediami, które wstrząsnęły światem – po jednej stronie Atlantyku wybucha reaktor jądrowy, po drugiej – na oczach milionów widzów ‘na żywo’ rozpada się amerykański prom kosmiczny Challenger. Oba te wydarzenia stały się głównym tematem zainteresowania Adama Higginbothama, co z dbałością o najmniejsze detale przedstawia w swoich książkach.
„Katastrofa Challengera” to odrobinę mylący tytuł, bo choć jest ona punktem kulminacyjnym książki, autor swoją historię zaczyna niemal dwadzieścia lat wcześniej podczas nieudanej próby misji Apollo 1 w 1967 roku. Odtąd nakreśla szczegółową historię amerykańskich lotów kosmicznych, wprowadza mnóstwo postaci i nazw, które składają się na absolutnie fascynującą historię podboju kosmosu przez człowieka, procesu podejmowania decyzji w centrum NASA, a także motywacji i powodów stojących za doborem odpowiedniej załogi.
Higginbotham wykonał tytaniczną pracę, by w tak szczegółowy sposób przedstawić historię NASA, pozostając przy tym bezstronnym i rzetelnym narratorem. Krok po kroku prowadzi czytelnika przez kolejne próby, testy, potencjalne zagrożenia – te ostatnie nonszalancko ignorowane w imię potrzeby rozwoju i nauki. Ta szczegółowość była jednak momentami przytłaczająca, niejednokrotnie musiałam cofać się o kilka zdań, by jeszcze raz przeczytać i zrozumieć zawiłości budowy promów kosmicznych. Z pomocą przychodziły tu sporządzone przez autora listy postaci, skrótów, czy nawet grafiki samego promu kosmicznego. Było to oczywiście potrzebne wprowadzenie do historii katastrofy Challengera, ale były fragmenty żmudne, które wpływały na mój odbiór całości. Jednak dotarcie do właściwej części tej historii – momentów tuż przed startem, eksplozji zaledwie 73 sekundy po i analizowanie przyczyn katastrofy – to już była emocjonalna jazda bez trzymanki. Autor zadbał też o szczegółowe portrety wszystkich siedmiu członków załogi Challengera, przez co nie były to już tylko nazwiska, ale namacalne osoby, których tragedia wstrząsa czytelnikiem do głębi. W takich historiach zawsze najbardziej przeraża mnie to, że są one do uniknięcia, gdyby nie ludzka pycha i dążenie do sukcesu za wszelką cenę.
Chyba spokojnie można powiedzieć, że jest to reportaż totalny – może nawet aż nazbyt szczegółowy. Niemniej jednak, jeśli szukacie kompleksowego źródła wiedzy na temat katastrofy Challengera, ta książka oferuje właśnie to. A nawet więcej.
„O tym, że każda część statku została zbudowana przez oferenta, który zaproponował najniższą cenę”.
1986 rok został naznaczony dwoma ogromnymi tragediami, które wstrząsnęły światem – po jednej stronie Atlantyku wybucha reaktor jądrowy, po drugiej – na oczach milionów widzów ‘na żywo’ rozpada się amerykański prom kosmiczny Challenger. Oba te wydarzenia stały się głównym tematem zainteresowania Adama Higginbothama, co z dbałością o najmniejsze detale przedstawia w swoich książkach.
„Katastrofa Challengera” to odrobinę mylący tytuł, bo choć jest ona punktem kulminacyjnym książki, autor swoją historię zaczyna niemal dwadzieścia lat wcześniej podczas nieudanej próby misji Apollo 1 w 1967 roku. Odtąd nakreśla szczegółową historię amerykańskich lotów kosmicznych, wprowadza mnóstwo postaci i nazw, które składają się na absolutnie fascynującą historię podboju kosmosu przez człowieka, procesu podejmowania decyzji w centrum NASA, a także motywacji i powodów stojących za doborem odpowiedniej załogi.
Higginbotham wykonał tytaniczną pracę, by w tak szczegółowy sposób przedstawić historię NASA, pozostając przy tym bezstronnym i rzetelnym narratorem. Krok po kroku prowadzi czytelnika przez kolejne próby, testy, potencjalne zagrożenia – te ostatnie nonszalancko ignorowane w imię potrzeby rozwoju i nauki. Ta szczegółowość była jednak momentami przytłaczająca, niejednokrotnie musiałam cofać się o kilka zdań, by jeszcze raz przeczytać i zrozumieć zawiłości budowy promów kosmicznych. Z pomocą przychodziły tu sporządzone przez autora listy postaci, skrótów, czy nawet grafiki samego promu kosmicznego. Było to oczywiście potrzebne wprowadzenie do historii katastrofy Challengera, ale były fragmenty żmudne, które wpływały na mój odbiór całości. Jednak dotarcie do właściwej części tej historii – momentów tuż przed startem, eksplozji zaledwie 73 sekundy po i analizowanie przyczyn katastrofy – to już była emocjonalna jazda bez trzymanki. Autor zadbał też o szczegółowe portrety wszystkich siedmiu członków załogi Challengera, przez co nie były to już tylko nazwiska, ale namacalne osoby, których tragedia wstrząsa czytelnikiem do głębi. W takich historiach zawsze najbardziej przeraża mnie to, że są one do uniknięcia, gdyby nie ludzka pycha i dążenie do sukcesu za wszelką cenę.
Chyba spokojnie można powiedzieć, że jest to reportaż totalny – może nawet aż nazbyt szczegółowy. Niemniej jednak, jeśli szukacie kompleksowego źródła wiedzy na temat katastrofy Challengera, ta książka oferuje właśnie to. A nawet więcej.
March 12, 2025
I had an epiphany as I was reading this book, and that was that I probably should have gotten therapy as a very young lass after watching the space shuttle Challenger explode live on television in my school classroom.
In the days of yesteryear, teachers would wheel a squeaky tower with a cheap boxy TV into your classroom, and that meant only one thing…. Usually a showing of Old Yeller… but on that particular day, a live viewing of the space shuttle Challenger launch. Everyone had snacks and smiles, and then the Challenger exploded right in front of all of our young eyes. The teacher practically ripped the plug from the wall to darken the TV, and then she burst into tears.
After some highly publicized disasters and missteps at NASA, Americans were tuning out of the space race en masse. In an attempt to get positive attention for the space program, an ingenious idea was born. That idea was to send a civilian into space, but it needed to be someone people would root for, cheer for, and tune in to see. A school teacher named Christa McAuliffe was chosen out of thousands of applications.
I can still remember McAuliffe’s megawatt smile and wave as she prepared to board that day. The excitement on her face and the faces of the NASA team are what I choose to remember these days instead of the absolute hellish nightmare that unfolded shortly after launch. Scobee, Smith, Resnik, Onizuka, McNair, McAuliffe, and Jarvis flew into history that day in a way no one could have dreamed, even in their worst nightmares.
This book is the best account of this tragedy I have ever read, bar none. From before the disaster, extensively during and after the disaster, and also an epilogue of the aftermath of the disaster in which Columbia would suffer the same fate, this book has nothing I can gripe about. The research is impressive in its scope. I mean, how many hours does AH have in a day? If I attempted to pull together this amount of information in one place, I would have a panic attack.
I had to skim some of the more technical jargon only because… Science… But at over 600 pages, the knowledge I gained here was enormous. A lot of what I read infuriated me all over again as to the decision process for launching this mission.
I can’t recommend this book enough for anyone who is keen to know more about what happened to the Challenger or for people who were touched by this disaster, so many of them in real time. It still hurts, even after all of this time.
Solid 5-star book right here.
In the days of yesteryear, teachers would wheel a squeaky tower with a cheap boxy TV into your classroom, and that meant only one thing…. Usually a showing of Old Yeller… but on that particular day, a live viewing of the space shuttle Challenger launch. Everyone had snacks and smiles, and then the Challenger exploded right in front of all of our young eyes. The teacher practically ripped the plug from the wall to darken the TV, and then she burst into tears.
After some highly publicized disasters and missteps at NASA, Americans were tuning out of the space race en masse. In an attempt to get positive attention for the space program, an ingenious idea was born. That idea was to send a civilian into space, but it needed to be someone people would root for, cheer for, and tune in to see. A school teacher named Christa McAuliffe was chosen out of thousands of applications.
I can still remember McAuliffe’s megawatt smile and wave as she prepared to board that day. The excitement on her face and the faces of the NASA team are what I choose to remember these days instead of the absolute hellish nightmare that unfolded shortly after launch. Scobee, Smith, Resnik, Onizuka, McNair, McAuliffe, and Jarvis flew into history that day in a way no one could have dreamed, even in their worst nightmares.
This book is the best account of this tragedy I have ever read, bar none. From before the disaster, extensively during and after the disaster, and also an epilogue of the aftermath of the disaster in which Columbia would suffer the same fate, this book has nothing I can gripe about. The research is impressive in its scope. I mean, how many hours does AH have in a day? If I attempted to pull together this amount of information in one place, I would have a panic attack.
I had to skim some of the more technical jargon only because… Science… But at over 600 pages, the knowledge I gained here was enormous. A lot of what I read infuriated me all over again as to the decision process for launching this mission.
I can’t recommend this book enough for anyone who is keen to know more about what happened to the Challenger or for people who were touched by this disaster, so many of them in real time. It still hurts, even after all of this time.
Solid 5-star book right here.
January 19, 2025
Astonishing, an eye-opener, I could go on. As I read this book I would be so surprised at what happened and what was allowed to happen while at the same time I wasn’t surprised. Some of the things our government has done over the past 100 years to people in the name of progress, is well, astonishing as well as tragic.
Adam Higginbotham does an excellent job weaving the lives of these astronauts and the tragedy of the shuttle disaster into a readable experience. Even though you know the ending, the author does an outstanding job explaining how we got to this ending, and how it should have been avoided. Kudos Mr. Higginbotham, well done.
Adam Higginbotham does an excellent job weaving the lives of these astronauts and the tragedy of the shuttle disaster into a readable experience. Even though you know the ending, the author does an outstanding job explaining how we got to this ending, and how it should have been avoided. Kudos Mr. Higginbotham, well done.
February 4, 2025
A sobering read on corporate/organisational hubris, greed and obfuscation, with NASA continually wavering between complacency, arrogance, ongoing budget cuts and unreasonable government demands.
Take of your engineering hat and put on your management hat
Such a good match with Orbital, the 2024 Booker Prize winner. While Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster was certainly more immediately gripping, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space is definitely top-notch, fascinating non-fiction.
Obviously a major malfunction is the understated way that NASA likes to frame its problems when they materialise, and Adam Higginbotham shows that already early on the necessity of cutting edge technology combined with political ambitions lead to pressure to cut corners.
The problem is sticky, literally so in the using flammable velcro in an oxygen rich environment within the Apollo program. Over 5.000 square inches of velcro in a capsule not supposed to contain more than 500, leading to a deadly fire in the Apollo walkthrough of spacecraft 12.
In this period budget is less of an issue, the Apollo program employing over 400.000 people and the lunar lander costing 15 times it weight in gold. The total program costing $28 billion, 1/3 of military spend in that period, which included the Vietnam war.
Soon however financial reality and budget cuts become the daily reality. This while the launch rocket of the space shuttle burning hotter than the boiling point of iron and with the space craft requiring over 34.000 ceramic tiles, all unique, to ensure the space shuttle can withstand the heat of re-entry into atmosphere. Competing demands from air force (who wanted to use the space shuttle to launch surveillance satellites into orbit) and NASA, making the design incredibly complex. At the maiden voyage between assemblage and NASA launch facilities 1/3 of tiles fell off the shuttle and all tiles needed to be reattached manually. The cockpit of the space shuttle having more than 2.000 switches and buttons, but none relating to the boosters, since these could not be jettisoned in the first 122 seconds after takeoff without incineration of the space shuttle.
And again political interference and appointees play a role: He is going to run NOA, end of story. Would you mind NASA?(about a Carter donor being appointed to head a scientific agency).
Get this son of a bitch into space or we’re going to lose the program about Columbia, never tested before being launched, is another example.
All this doesn't inhibit the power of being back in space, some new astronaut candidates taking a 75% pay-cut for the privilege to potentially go to space in the space shuttle.
In the 70s and 80s the development problems with the space shuttle give rise to a new acronym:NASA - Never A Straight Answer, to reflect how the agency tells different things to congress compared to internal targets.
The agency ends up using earth telescopes and surveillance satellites to check if Columbia was able to reenter atmosphere and serving 5 different presidents before the space shuttle entered regular service.
Astonishingly 1978 reports already mentioning the risk of hot gas leakage with the O-rings used and predictions of the solid boosters of the space shuttle catastrophically failing once every 18 to 30 launches according to statistical analysis. This report was buried by committee, which qualitatively revised this to an estimate of 1 failure in 10.000 launches. Booster preparation requiring 5 days and nights and 14 engineers, with even flecks of paint or human hair potentially leading to gas potentially catastrophically leaking.
Flight readiness review to guarantee that space shuttle launch would be safe enough clash with promises to run the space shuttle as a kind of weekly airline to space.
Challenger losing $180m of satellites, but also accomplishing the first spacewalk by an astronaut from the space shuttle and the first saxophone solo in space.
Gradual acceptance of O-ring failure as being normal over time, spurned on by the need to keep pretending voodoo accounting of the cost to launch payloads with the space shuttle was real. It was assumed to cost $270 per pound to launch versus actuals of $5.200. This lead to 12 hour days, outsourcing to Lockheed and reduction of quality inspectors, all to ensure faster launches.
O-rings not being able to withstand cool weather. The situation is not desirable, but acceptable, was the overall conclusion, with no mention of the temperature impacting efficacy in NASA reports. 30 potential O-ring redesigns being ignored by management of the contractor of the solid rocket boosters.
Senators and congressional representatives pressuring NASA to be on board the space shuttle and cannibalism of parts between space shuttles, making concurrent launch near impossible.
Conference call not helping to convey the problems from freezing temperatures on the O-rings into the rigid NASA hierarchy.
14 engineers and managers from the contractor unanimously voting against launch, but NASA changing their stand from proven safety to not proven unsafe, by implicitly threatening the renewal of $1b monopoly contract.
It’s time for a management decision - effectively killing the astronauts, with managers mentioning It’s still a bit of Russian roulette. In 5 to 6 times out of 10 you’ll make it during Russian roulette. Over 95% of Americans seeing the footage of the explosion within 24 hours after the accident and three quarters seeing the mourning ceremonies.
NASA even under oath trying to obscure the truth of the warnings in respect to the O-rings and a duffle bag with $13 million dollars of cocaine being found as part of the efforts to salvage the remains of the space shuttle from the seabed, an effort costing more than $1 million dollars per day.
Yesmen been given early retirement and being reassigned, while whistleblowers where shunned and shut out, and in one case diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.
The accident leading to a $7.7 million settlement, 60% paid by the contractor, who ended up generating revenues of $1.5 billion on the solid rocket contract.
Investigation showing that the astronauts probably lived until their crash into the ocean.
And especially sobering is that the mistakes made didn't lead to organisational change, with the 2003 destruction of Columbia due to lack of communication and timely checks on the heat shields, leading to the 2011 termination of the programme.
Take of your engineering hat and put on your management hat
Such a good match with Orbital, the 2024 Booker Prize winner. While Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster was certainly more immediately gripping, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space is definitely top-notch, fascinating non-fiction.
Obviously a major malfunction is the understated way that NASA likes to frame its problems when they materialise, and Adam Higginbotham shows that already early on the necessity of cutting edge technology combined with political ambitions lead to pressure to cut corners.
The problem is sticky, literally so in the using flammable velcro in an oxygen rich environment within the Apollo program. Over 5.000 square inches of velcro in a capsule not supposed to contain more than 500, leading to a deadly fire in the Apollo walkthrough of spacecraft 12.
In this period budget is less of an issue, the Apollo program employing over 400.000 people and the lunar lander costing 15 times it weight in gold. The total program costing $28 billion, 1/3 of military spend in that period, which included the Vietnam war.
Soon however financial reality and budget cuts become the daily reality. This while the launch rocket of the space shuttle burning hotter than the boiling point of iron and with the space craft requiring over 34.000 ceramic tiles, all unique, to ensure the space shuttle can withstand the heat of re-entry into atmosphere. Competing demands from air force (who wanted to use the space shuttle to launch surveillance satellites into orbit) and NASA, making the design incredibly complex. At the maiden voyage between assemblage and NASA launch facilities 1/3 of tiles fell off the shuttle and all tiles needed to be reattached manually. The cockpit of the space shuttle having more than 2.000 switches and buttons, but none relating to the boosters, since these could not be jettisoned in the first 122 seconds after takeoff without incineration of the space shuttle.
And again political interference and appointees play a role: He is going to run NOA, end of story. Would you mind NASA?(about a Carter donor being appointed to head a scientific agency).
Get this son of a bitch into space or we’re going to lose the program about Columbia, never tested before being launched, is another example.
All this doesn't inhibit the power of being back in space, some new astronaut candidates taking a 75% pay-cut for the privilege to potentially go to space in the space shuttle.
In the 70s and 80s the development problems with the space shuttle give rise to a new acronym:NASA - Never A Straight Answer, to reflect how the agency tells different things to congress compared to internal targets.
The agency ends up using earth telescopes and surveillance satellites to check if Columbia was able to reenter atmosphere and serving 5 different presidents before the space shuttle entered regular service.
Astonishingly 1978 reports already mentioning the risk of hot gas leakage with the O-rings used and predictions of the solid boosters of the space shuttle catastrophically failing once every 18 to 30 launches according to statistical analysis. This report was buried by committee, which qualitatively revised this to an estimate of 1 failure in 10.000 launches. Booster preparation requiring 5 days and nights and 14 engineers, with even flecks of paint or human hair potentially leading to gas potentially catastrophically leaking.
Flight readiness review to guarantee that space shuttle launch would be safe enough clash with promises to run the space shuttle as a kind of weekly airline to space.
Challenger losing $180m of satellites, but also accomplishing the first spacewalk by an astronaut from the space shuttle and the first saxophone solo in space.
Gradual acceptance of O-ring failure as being normal over time, spurned on by the need to keep pretending voodoo accounting of the cost to launch payloads with the space shuttle was real. It was assumed to cost $270 per pound to launch versus actuals of $5.200. This lead to 12 hour days, outsourcing to Lockheed and reduction of quality inspectors, all to ensure faster launches.
O-rings not being able to withstand cool weather. The situation is not desirable, but acceptable, was the overall conclusion, with no mention of the temperature impacting efficacy in NASA reports. 30 potential O-ring redesigns being ignored by management of the contractor of the solid rocket boosters.
Senators and congressional representatives pressuring NASA to be on board the space shuttle and cannibalism of parts between space shuttles, making concurrent launch near impossible.
Conference call not helping to convey the problems from freezing temperatures on the O-rings into the rigid NASA hierarchy.
14 engineers and managers from the contractor unanimously voting against launch, but NASA changing their stand from proven safety to not proven unsafe, by implicitly threatening the renewal of $1b monopoly contract.
It’s time for a management decision - effectively killing the astronauts, with managers mentioning It’s still a bit of Russian roulette. In 5 to 6 times out of 10 you’ll make it during Russian roulette. Over 95% of Americans seeing the footage of the explosion within 24 hours after the accident and three quarters seeing the mourning ceremonies.
NASA even under oath trying to obscure the truth of the warnings in respect to the O-rings and a duffle bag with $13 million dollars of cocaine being found as part of the efforts to salvage the remains of the space shuttle from the seabed, an effort costing more than $1 million dollars per day.
Yesmen been given early retirement and being reassigned, while whistleblowers where shunned and shut out, and in one case diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.
The accident leading to a $7.7 million settlement, 60% paid by the contractor, who ended up generating revenues of $1.5 billion on the solid rocket contract.
Investigation showing that the astronauts probably lived until their crash into the ocean.
And especially sobering is that the mistakes made didn't lead to organisational change, with the 2003 destruction of Columbia due to lack of communication and timely checks on the heat shields, leading to the 2011 termination of the programme.
June 10, 2024
Sometimes we choose to read giant, 17-hours-on-audio history books about events that heavily influenced our life. We might want a Presidential Fitness Award for doing this, but we’ll settle for indulging ourselves by writing a “review” that’s mostly personal reminiscence. That personal essay may be found below, but here is the actual review content first so you can feel free to skip all that:
Of course this book is superbly executed; it’s Adam Higginbotham and it’d be nearly delusional to expect otherwise. He is of the “doomed to repeat what we don’t remember” school of thought, so the book aims to place the Challenger explosion solidly in the long context of cultural and organizational issues affecting the space program leading up to the disaster. He succeeds in this, making it clear that this wasn’t some outlier event, but well foretold, and likely preventable. The heroes in the subtitle include not merely the astronauts themselves but the thwarted whistleblowers on the ground. To give you some background on how MUCH background Higginbotham provides: the Challenger doesn’t even appear until about halfway into the book, and the incident itself occurs at about the 75% mark. Yes, it can be tedious at times. Yes, the science writing is very clear, although I’m not sure we needed so much technical detail that we could probably build our own shuttle after reading this. And for those of you who say “reads like a suspense novel!” - my first instinct is to ask wow who hurt you, but I’ll rephrase to “you must just be way way smarter than me.” Otherwise, I’ll leave it at this: The guy was clearly put on this earth to write impeccably researched and respectful authoritative tomes about historical disasters, and so you’ll get exactly what you paid for here.
Personal nostalgia portion commences here; again, please ignore as you wish.
When the Challenger space shuttle blew up in the middle of our elementary school classrooms -- because that’s really what it felt like for the 4-10 year-olds watching -- the teachers all abruptly switched off the dials of those even-then-old fashioned TVs, which looked like something people had also watched the moon landing on. And then they were all like, “So, hey, kids, ok!…. Uuuhhhh, did you know the Michigan state flower is the apple blossom?! Oh and heyyyy, look outside over there, it’s an Eastern White Pine, our state tree!!!”
Recalling back, it’s so clear that we were in the custody of adults who were just as completely freaked out as we were and understandably had absolutely no chill about it. What happened was not spoken of, which was very much aligned with the approach to anything emotional or untoward (a lot of things) in my small, Catholic, working-class community.
We learned we couldn’t be astronauts then, or maybe just that we just didn’t want to be anymore. It was a big deal that we’d ever thought we could anyway. Most of our teachers expected nothing of us, it was clear, and we absorbed this. We were expected to work in the mill or on the line like our parents had. (Spoiler alert: those jobs would also blow up, metaphorically speaking.) But even though most of these teachers definitely in retrospect spiked their coffee and probably wondered the point of teaching us anything at all, there were a devoted few who truly wanted us to learn.
Something these passionate teachers did was get us hooked up with these “CNN in the classroom” setups. Hence, the ancient TVs on the creaky rolling carts. Cable TV apparently seemed mindblowingly cutting-edge at the time, and the concept of a 24-hour newsfeed rather than one stodgy man’s evening broadcast was also new and was being pushed by the powers that be. Et voila: these programs granting “cable in the classroom!” to poorer schools like ours. (Isn’t it funny that they once thought they’d need to train us to watch a screen all the time and be addicted to constant news?)
In any case, kids did things like watch news clips and take quizzes, and on this day, every student was sat down to watch the Challenger launch - with a teacher in it. As Higginbotham describes, this was all a part of another massive and intersecting PR scheme to get Americans interested in space exploration, another potential thing to watch 24-hour news about. This backfired, obviously, but provided a precedent for the now-common experience of children and humans being constantly hypervigilant and traumatized by the ability to witness live, global violence and catastrophe around the clock in real time. There are some very interesting foundational psychological studies after the Challenger incident documenting how children experienced phobias, anxiety, and acute traumatic stress symptoms by witnessing the trauma remotely. This wasn’t really thought to Be a Thing before that time.
Today, I’m a trauma therapist to children and adults, so I appreciate all of the above a lot. I have a space shuttle stress ball squeezy on my desk and a space shuttle magnet on my refrigerator and a toy space shuttle in my play therapy room, where it plays the role of a generic spaceship, or honestly some of the kiddos might just think it’s a plane. It is, after all, a pretty quaint and old-ass Thomas the Train-looking relic in some ways, nearly as old-fashioned now as the TVs were then.
But at the Udvar-Hazy Center, or “airplane museum” as I call it, where I got all this space shuttle memorabilia, you can visit Discovery, one of the five spaceworthy shuttles built and one of the three that did not explode. And in the dramatic New York Fashion Week-caliber lighting there in an exhibit put together by curators who clearly knew her best angles, she remains a breathtaking supermodel symbol of infinite possibility.
Of course this book is superbly executed; it’s Adam Higginbotham and it’d be nearly delusional to expect otherwise. He is of the “doomed to repeat what we don’t remember” school of thought, so the book aims to place the Challenger explosion solidly in the long context of cultural and organizational issues affecting the space program leading up to the disaster. He succeeds in this, making it clear that this wasn’t some outlier event, but well foretold, and likely preventable. The heroes in the subtitle include not merely the astronauts themselves but the thwarted whistleblowers on the ground. To give you some background on how MUCH background Higginbotham provides: the Challenger doesn’t even appear until about halfway into the book, and the incident itself occurs at about the 75% mark. Yes, it can be tedious at times. Yes, the science writing is very clear, although I’m not sure we needed so much technical detail that we could probably build our own shuttle after reading this. And for those of you who say “reads like a suspense novel!” - my first instinct is to ask wow who hurt you, but I’ll rephrase to “you must just be way way smarter than me.” Otherwise, I’ll leave it at this: The guy was clearly put on this earth to write impeccably researched and respectful authoritative tomes about historical disasters, and so you’ll get exactly what you paid for here.
Personal nostalgia portion commences here; again, please ignore as you wish.
When the Challenger space shuttle blew up in the middle of our elementary school classrooms -- because that’s really what it felt like for the 4-10 year-olds watching -- the teachers all abruptly switched off the dials of those even-then-old fashioned TVs, which looked like something people had also watched the moon landing on. And then they were all like, “So, hey, kids, ok!…. Uuuhhhh, did you know the Michigan state flower is the apple blossom?! Oh and heyyyy, look outside over there, it’s an Eastern White Pine, our state tree!!!”
Recalling back, it’s so clear that we were in the custody of adults who were just as completely freaked out as we were and understandably had absolutely no chill about it. What happened was not spoken of, which was very much aligned with the approach to anything emotional or untoward (a lot of things) in my small, Catholic, working-class community.
We learned we couldn’t be astronauts then, or maybe just that we just didn’t want to be anymore. It was a big deal that we’d ever thought we could anyway. Most of our teachers expected nothing of us, it was clear, and we absorbed this. We were expected to work in the mill or on the line like our parents had. (Spoiler alert: those jobs would also blow up, metaphorically speaking.) But even though most of these teachers definitely in retrospect spiked their coffee and probably wondered the point of teaching us anything at all, there were a devoted few who truly wanted us to learn.
Something these passionate teachers did was get us hooked up with these “CNN in the classroom” setups. Hence, the ancient TVs on the creaky rolling carts. Cable TV apparently seemed mindblowingly cutting-edge at the time, and the concept of a 24-hour newsfeed rather than one stodgy man’s evening broadcast was also new and was being pushed by the powers that be. Et voila: these programs granting “cable in the classroom!” to poorer schools like ours. (Isn’t it funny that they once thought they’d need to train us to watch a screen all the time and be addicted to constant news?)
In any case, kids did things like watch news clips and take quizzes, and on this day, every student was sat down to watch the Challenger launch - with a teacher in it. As Higginbotham describes, this was all a part of another massive and intersecting PR scheme to get Americans interested in space exploration, another potential thing to watch 24-hour news about. This backfired, obviously, but provided a precedent for the now-common experience of children and humans being constantly hypervigilant and traumatized by the ability to witness live, global violence and catastrophe around the clock in real time. There are some very interesting foundational psychological studies after the Challenger incident documenting how children experienced phobias, anxiety, and acute traumatic stress symptoms by witnessing the trauma remotely. This wasn’t really thought to Be a Thing before that time.
Today, I’m a trauma therapist to children and adults, so I appreciate all of the above a lot. I have a space shuttle stress ball squeezy on my desk and a space shuttle magnet on my refrigerator and a toy space shuttle in my play therapy room, where it plays the role of a generic spaceship, or honestly some of the kiddos might just think it’s a plane. It is, after all, a pretty quaint and old-ass Thomas the Train-looking relic in some ways, nearly as old-fashioned now as the TVs were then.
But at the Udvar-Hazy Center, or “airplane museum” as I call it, where I got all this space shuttle memorabilia, you can visit Discovery, one of the five spaceworthy shuttles built and one of the three that did not explode. And in the dramatic New York Fashion Week-caliber lighting there in an exhibit put together by curators who clearly knew her best angles, she remains a breathtaking supermodel symbol of infinite possibility.
September 27, 2024
[4 stars for dogged research; 1 star for execution; DNF] My apologies to all the hard-working luminaries at NASA, the legions of armchair space geeks and my GoodReads colleagues who have assigned 4-star and 5-star accolades, but I had to call it quits before I hit the midway mark.
Perhaps it teeters on literary hubris to take issue with a thoughtful review published in the Washington Post proclaiming Higginbotham’s work “compelling and exhaustively researched.” The latter assertion is undeniable. But for this reader, the excessively detailed backstory of the nation’s space program was TMI. As a retired journalist, I appreciate the importance of backstories. In this instance, it fosters an understanding of the culture and policies at NASA that allowed the Challenger tragedy to occur. To the author's credit, I did learn some sobering things about NASA's legacy. However, I felt a tad lost in space after hitting page 170 and realizing we were still a few years away from the tragic 73-second-long Challenger launch.
Chalk it off to my expectations. I didn’t realize this book was essentially a history of the U.S space program through the ‘80s. For science aficionados, “Challenger” will likely satisfy. For folks who are seeking insights via a riveting and easily digestible narrative, it's a mission that misses the mark.
Perhaps it teeters on literary hubris to take issue with a thoughtful review published in the Washington Post proclaiming Higginbotham’s work “compelling and exhaustively researched.” The latter assertion is undeniable. But for this reader, the excessively detailed backstory of the nation’s space program was TMI. As a retired journalist, I appreciate the importance of backstories. In this instance, it fosters an understanding of the culture and policies at NASA that allowed the Challenger tragedy to occur. To the author's credit, I did learn some sobering things about NASA's legacy. However, I felt a tad lost in space after hitting page 170 and realizing we were still a few years away from the tragic 73-second-long Challenger launch.
Chalk it off to my expectations. I didn’t realize this book was essentially a history of the U.S space program through the ‘80s. For science aficionados, “Challenger” will likely satisfy. For folks who are seeking insights via a riveting and easily digestible narrative, it's a mission that misses the mark.
October 25, 2024
On occasion, I'll finish reading a truly phenomenal book such as Adam Higginbotham's Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space, and I'll put off writing the review for a hot minute (does a month count as a hot minute? Well, it does now). Woefully, this innocuous procrastination leads to me checking out other reviews, as my main intention is to establish a brief summary once again.
Then I think, oh. These are much more eloquent (I know I need sleep when I'm obsessing over synonyms, and while "eloquent" isn't technically wrong for a book revolving around an aeronautical disaster, maybe it would be better suited for Ulysses or some grand epic of that sort). As other reviewers are quick to mention, a lot of us are here because yes, a book on the Challenger is indeed fascinating, but even more fascinating is the fact that the same guy who wrote Midnight in Chernobyl is the author of this latest historic tragedy. If you five-starred Midnight in Chernobyl as I did, then you went into this book with tremendous expectations...
... and those expects were met, and then some!
I love how fellow reviewers ascribe a very specific writing style to him: "An author with a deft touch in relations to disasters of 1986", "today's best chronicler of man-made disasters", "put on this earth to write impeccably researched and respectful authoritative tomes about historical disasters", along with (shoutout to my GR pal Brendan!), "an expert at taking a tragedy and deconstructing it while engaging the reader at every turn." How true these all are. For many writers, this would be a challenging (no pun intended) tragedy to illustrate. Higginbotham just has a penchant for turning very technical - yet human - stories - into highly readable human stories, with a knack for describing rocket parts and their innerworkings like an ordinary person might describe the weather.
I'm pretty astounded by anyone who didn't five-star this book. In my opinion, that can only mean that you wanted something less exhaustive, and in that case, picking up a nearly 600 page book chronicling not just the Challenger disaster, but the space program and its setbacks and achievements, the NASA bureaucracy and obsession with all things space in the 1970s and 1980s, along with detailed accounts of the lives of each astronaut mentioned (Apollo and Columbia are included as well, Challenger doesn't figure in until about three-quarters of the way through!).
I was impressed by his ability to seamlessly transition from talk of concerns with the rocket's primary and secondary O-Ring seals in freezing temperatures one moment, to bureaucratic infighting in the next paragraph. Fun fact: my doctor specialized in aerospace medicine, graduated from medical school in 1972, so he actually did the health checks for the crew. Although when I mentioned this to him, he didn't get upset like many people do that remember that day so vividly: "Megan, we're trying to talk about your medications. Focus. Yes, I was there. I was only running last minute checks on their vitals and checking their most recent physicals. Let's not make such a big deal of this."
This is the same guy that got frustrated with me (in a very fatherly, mentor-like, loving manner) when I mentioned I had not taken the LSAT given the grief I had been experiencing: "Just do it. I don't understand this idea that law school or medical school is prestigious. It's not." Oh, alright. I can appreciate a doctor who doesn't have a God complex, but this man is something else, lol. It's not arrogance, either. He's just... not the best reader of social interactions? Haha. I digress.
The only real complaints I can find with this book are ones that are going to be commonplace: many of the incredibly long paragraphs are often written in only one or two sentences. It seems I have met my match when it comes to use of the semicolon: although I don't believe I've used it in this review, I'm sure it can be found all over other reviews (I employ the use of it a lot in schoolwork). So while that can at times make the reading a bit tedious, it's not enough for me to take a star off.
If you want a dynamic telling of the Challenger explosion, but with the appropriate amount of reverence for the victims and their families, then I'm certain you won't have to read another book after you finish this one (unless you're interesting in reading any possible memoirs by surviving family members, engineers, NASA workers on base that day, etc.). I don't remember if there were any good ones released, but undoubtedly Higginbotham would not only draw upon them for source material, but likely mention them in the text itself!
Let me reiterate one more time: if you have high expectations going into this because you were enthralled by Midnight in Chernobyl, prepare to have your expectations met and exceeded. I would (obviously) highly recommend this book to all - only people who don't like overly descriptive accounts of events or prefer brevity to detailed storytelling should likely try another book or a documentary instead. Can't wait to see what he does next!
Then I think, oh. These are much more eloquent (I know I need sleep when I'm obsessing over synonyms, and while "eloquent" isn't technically wrong for a book revolving around an aeronautical disaster, maybe it would be better suited for Ulysses or some grand epic of that sort). As other reviewers are quick to mention, a lot of us are here because yes, a book on the Challenger is indeed fascinating, but even more fascinating is the fact that the same guy who wrote Midnight in Chernobyl is the author of this latest historic tragedy. If you five-starred Midnight in Chernobyl as I did, then you went into this book with tremendous expectations...
... and those expects were met, and then some!
I love how fellow reviewers ascribe a very specific writing style to him: "An author with a deft touch in relations to disasters of 1986", "today's best chronicler of man-made disasters", "put on this earth to write impeccably researched and respectful authoritative tomes about historical disasters", along with (shoutout to my GR pal Brendan!), "an expert at taking a tragedy and deconstructing it while engaging the reader at every turn." How true these all are. For many writers, this would be a challenging (no pun intended) tragedy to illustrate. Higginbotham just has a penchant for turning very technical - yet human - stories - into highly readable human stories, with a knack for describing rocket parts and their innerworkings like an ordinary person might describe the weather.
I'm pretty astounded by anyone who didn't five-star this book. In my opinion, that can only mean that you wanted something less exhaustive, and in that case, picking up a nearly 600 page book chronicling not just the Challenger disaster, but the space program and its setbacks and achievements, the NASA bureaucracy and obsession with all things space in the 1970s and 1980s, along with detailed accounts of the lives of each astronaut mentioned (Apollo and Columbia are included as well, Challenger doesn't figure in until about three-quarters of the way through!).
I was impressed by his ability to seamlessly transition from talk of concerns with the rocket's primary and secondary O-Ring seals in freezing temperatures one moment, to bureaucratic infighting in the next paragraph. Fun fact: my doctor specialized in aerospace medicine, graduated from medical school in 1972, so he actually did the health checks for the crew. Although when I mentioned this to him, he didn't get upset like many people do that remember that day so vividly: "Megan, we're trying to talk about your medications. Focus. Yes, I was there. I was only running last minute checks on their vitals and checking their most recent physicals. Let's not make such a big deal of this."
This is the same guy that got frustrated with me (in a very fatherly, mentor-like, loving manner) when I mentioned I had not taken the LSAT given the grief I had been experiencing: "Just do it. I don't understand this idea that law school or medical school is prestigious. It's not." Oh, alright. I can appreciate a doctor who doesn't have a God complex, but this man is something else, lol. It's not arrogance, either. He's just... not the best reader of social interactions? Haha. I digress.
The only real complaints I can find with this book are ones that are going to be commonplace: many of the incredibly long paragraphs are often written in only one or two sentences. It seems I have met my match when it comes to use of the semicolon: although I don't believe I've used it in this review, I'm sure it can be found all over other reviews (I employ the use of it a lot in schoolwork). So while that can at times make the reading a bit tedious, it's not enough for me to take a star off.
If you want a dynamic telling of the Challenger explosion, but with the appropriate amount of reverence for the victims and their families, then I'm certain you won't have to read another book after you finish this one (unless you're interesting in reading any possible memoirs by surviving family members, engineers, NASA workers on base that day, etc.). I don't remember if there were any good ones released, but undoubtedly Higginbotham would not only draw upon them for source material, but likely mention them in the text itself!
Let me reiterate one more time: if you have high expectations going into this because you were enthralled by Midnight in Chernobyl, prepare to have your expectations met and exceeded. I would (obviously) highly recommend this book to all - only people who don't like overly descriptive accounts of events or prefer brevity to detailed storytelling should likely try another book or a documentary instead. Can't wait to see what he does next!
July 11, 2024
A phenomenal and at times nauseating read. Challenger was the first event I remember vividly. Seven years old, sitting on my mom's bed, I recall being confused but knowing it wasn't good.
Challenger answered questions I had while handling the crew's memory with the utmost care. You get to know them, their quirks, their families, and it's heartbreaking because you know how their story ends.
Challenger also despells the notion of a villain/s. Bureaucracy and hubris were the main culprits. Over missions and years, dumb-luck was taken as proficiency in the shuttle program and NASA's requirements for the launch slipped. Go-no-go criteria for launching went from any fault will cause a delay to give us a reason not to fly which is vastly different.
Challenger has my highest recommendation! Thank you to Avid Reader Press/ Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Challenger!
Challenger answered questions I had while handling the crew's memory with the utmost care. You get to know them, their quirks, their families, and it's heartbreaking because you know how their story ends.
Challenger also despells the notion of a villain/s. Bureaucracy and hubris were the main culprits. Over missions and years, dumb-luck was taken as proficiency in the shuttle program and NASA's requirements for the launch slipped. Go-no-go criteria for launching went from any fault will cause a delay to give us a reason not to fly which is vastly different.
Challenger has my highest recommendation! Thank you to Avid Reader Press/ Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Challenger!
February 8, 2025
This is an amazing book that provides a captivating account of the people, organizations, and the sequence of events that led to the catastrophic failure after launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986. Of course, we all know the disastrous outcome before starting the book. The author weaves together many diverse pieces and parts of the story into an accessible and engrossing narrative. It details the many bureaucratic decisions, pressures to adhere to a schedule, management incompetence, cost-cutting measures, and hubris involved in this tragic episode in history. It is also a story of courage.
In addition to the Challenger disaster, it covers other loss-of-life events in the Space Program, such as fire in the Apollo 1 training capsule in 1967 and the loss of Columbia in 2003, but the primary focus remains on Challenger. It documents mini biographies of each of the astronauts. It also covers the extra publicity the flight received due to what was supposed to be the first American civilian in space, teacher Christa McAuliffe, which meant that classrooms across the country were watching the launch live.
The explosion after the launch of the Challenger is one of those episodes in US history that many people remember vividly, down to where they were and what they were doing when it happened. This book makes clear that the engineers had raised red flags, and it was a disaster that could have been avoided. As I read along, I kept wanting to scream out, “No! Don’t do it!” I was totally immersed in this book. If you are interested in the history of NASA or the space program in general, this is a “must read.”
In addition to the Challenger disaster, it covers other loss-of-life events in the Space Program, such as fire in the Apollo 1 training capsule in 1967 and the loss of Columbia in 2003, but the primary focus remains on Challenger. It documents mini biographies of each of the astronauts. It also covers the extra publicity the flight received due to what was supposed to be the first American civilian in space, teacher Christa McAuliffe, which meant that classrooms across the country were watching the launch live.
The explosion after the launch of the Challenger is one of those episodes in US history that many people remember vividly, down to where they were and what they were doing when it happened. This book makes clear that the engineers had raised red flags, and it was a disaster that could have been avoided. As I read along, I kept wanting to scream out, “No! Don’t do it!” I was totally immersed in this book. If you are interested in the history of NASA or the space program in general, this is a “must read.”
September 2, 2024
Absolutely riveting. I could not put it down.
Even the technical descriptions and definitions were not difficult to follow, and in many cases, horrifying to understand.
The story of the Challenger, from the early days of the space program to the shuttle program is a fascinating read.
Anyone who remembers the ticker tape parades for John Glenn and other early astronauts, the walk on the moon and the horrific Challenger explosion, need to read this book.
It takes you through the years before Challenger and how the program got to where it was - who the outside contractors were for the rocket parts as well as who the administrators were, of both NASA and their contractors and how decisions were arrived at.
It is the story of a very brave man who chose to do the right thing and tell the story of what really happened the day before the Challenger went up and how the launch decision was arrived at.
Everything before and after the Challenger explosion is detailed precisely, chronologically and without shading.
Just a fascinating read.
Bravo to Adam H - I wish I could give this 10 stars.
Even the technical descriptions and definitions were not difficult to follow, and in many cases, horrifying to understand.
The story of the Challenger, from the early days of the space program to the shuttle program is a fascinating read.
Anyone who remembers the ticker tape parades for John Glenn and other early astronauts, the walk on the moon and the horrific Challenger explosion, need to read this book.
It takes you through the years before Challenger and how the program got to where it was - who the outside contractors were for the rocket parts as well as who the administrators were, of both NASA and their contractors and how decisions were arrived at.
It is the story of a very brave man who chose to do the right thing and tell the story of what really happened the day before the Challenger went up and how the launch decision was arrived at.
Everything before and after the Challenger explosion is detailed precisely, chronologically and without shading.
Just a fascinating read.
Bravo to Adam H - I wish I could give this 10 stars.
March 22, 2025
To an impressionable child in the 1950s and 1960s, the original seven Mercury astronauts were like rock stars, on a par with the Beatles. For you young'uns, think Taylor Swift. It was a big enough deal that in my grade school the nuns would put their rulers down and let us all assemble in the one room with a black and white television to watch Alan Shepard and then John Glenn do their thing. I couldn't get enough of their stories or their exploits, not that I ever had dreams of rocketing into space.
But time passes. The focus turns to work, children. By January 28, 1986, when the Challenger exploded ninety seconds after lift-off, with Christa McAuliffe on-board, I was no longer glued to the tv. It was a sad moment though, and the footage was ubiquitous. We were made numb, so numb perhaps that the explosion of the Columbia in 2003, with seven more lives gone, didn't register.
This is the story of the Challenger, though. It's a story of hubris and greed, and politics. It didn't need to happen; it shouldn't have happened. It's a story of a handful of engineers who begged that the launch be shut down, and had the courage to testify to that, after.
I inhaled the last 200 pages.
But time passes. The focus turns to work, children. By January 28, 1986, when the Challenger exploded ninety seconds after lift-off, with Christa McAuliffe on-board, I was no longer glued to the tv. It was a sad moment though, and the footage was ubiquitous. We were made numb, so numb perhaps that the explosion of the Columbia in 2003, with seven more lives gone, didn't register.
This is the story of the Challenger, though. It's a story of hubris and greed, and politics. It didn't need to happen; it shouldn't have happened. It's a story of a handful of engineers who begged that the launch be shut down, and had the courage to testify to that, after.
I inhaled the last 200 pages.
July 26, 2024
Forensically detailed and painstakingly researched, like the best non-fiction this reads like a first-rate novel. The first 200+ pages take you from the Mercury/Apollo programmes to the beginning of the Space Shuttle programme. Given the technical difficulties involved, the budgetary constraints and managerial malfeasance - both within NASA and among the contractors - what's surprising is how few fatalities there were. Yes, a lot of it was down to engineering brilliance, but mostly it was down to luck. The second part of the book deals with the disaster itself and the investigation that followed. Why no charges of corporate manslaughter were brought goodness only knows. Especially given the actions and decision-making of middle management. No one can be expected to get everything right all the time. But when a problem is known about, and those who know most about it are demanding urgent action - when all this is ignored and lives are lost, criminal charges should follow.
June 28, 2025
This book did not have to be over 500 pages, it way to much filler, that I did not even read.
May 11, 2025
Higginbotham has figured out how to tell a compelling disaster story. His Midnight in Chernobyl is a 5-star stunner, and this one is similarly engrossing.
He provides enough detail and background to allow the reader to appreciate the complexity and inherent danger of the space shuttle project, and gives enough biographical information about the astronauts that we also properly feel the emotional hit.
The solid rocket boosters were made by Thiokol in Utah and shipped in sections to Cape Canaveral where they were assembled. The rather complicated joint between each section used two O-rings. It had been apparent from examining the rocket boosters retrieved from the ocean after each launch that the o-ring seals leaked slightly, and there was already concern that only good fortune had kept these small leaks from becoming disastrous explosions. It was further suspected by some engineers at Thiokol that the o-rings were adversely affected by cold temperatures. The Challenger launch was planned for January following a weekend of record cold temperatures—large icicles were still hanging from the launch tower. A small group of concerned engineers tried to sound the alarm and recommended that the launch be delayed but were effectively overruled by the NASA higher-ups who were feeling pressure to increase the number of flights per year because the program’s prestige had been declining.
The author shows how the culture of NASA became distorted over time with each successful mission. “Although the Thiokol engineers did not fully realize it at the time, Mulloy's rebuttal marked a subtle shift in the tone and expectations in the meeting—a change that made it different from all previous Flight Readiness Reviews. In the past, if a contractor's data about the state of flight hardware had been inconclusive, the default position was not to fly: they were expected to prove that their equipment and components constituted an acceptable risk before launch. Now, it seemed, Mulloy was asking them to prove the opposite—to show him the data that proved conclusively it was not safe to launch.”
Richard Feynman summed up the human error in his appendix to the final investigation report: “For a sucessful technology, reality must take precedence over public-relations, for nature cannot be fooled.”
Matt wrote an excellent review which is well worth reading:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
He provides enough detail and background to allow the reader to appreciate the complexity and inherent danger of the space shuttle project, and gives enough biographical information about the astronauts that we also properly feel the emotional hit.
The solid rocket boosters were made by Thiokol in Utah and shipped in sections to Cape Canaveral where they were assembled. The rather complicated joint between each section used two O-rings. It had been apparent from examining the rocket boosters retrieved from the ocean after each launch that the o-ring seals leaked slightly, and there was already concern that only good fortune had kept these small leaks from becoming disastrous explosions. It was further suspected by some engineers at Thiokol that the o-rings were adversely affected by cold temperatures. The Challenger launch was planned for January following a weekend of record cold temperatures—large icicles were still hanging from the launch tower. A small group of concerned engineers tried to sound the alarm and recommended that the launch be delayed but were effectively overruled by the NASA higher-ups who were feeling pressure to increase the number of flights per year because the program’s prestige had been declining.
The author shows how the culture of NASA became distorted over time with each successful mission. “Although the Thiokol engineers did not fully realize it at the time, Mulloy's rebuttal marked a subtle shift in the tone and expectations in the meeting—a change that made it different from all previous Flight Readiness Reviews. In the past, if a contractor's data about the state of flight hardware had been inconclusive, the default position was not to fly: they were expected to prove that their equipment and components constituted an acceptable risk before launch. Now, it seemed, Mulloy was asking them to prove the opposite—to show him the data that proved conclusively it was not safe to launch.”
Richard Feynman summed up the human error in his appendix to the final investigation report: “For a sucessful technology, reality must take precedence over public-relations, for nature cannot be fooled.”
Matt wrote an excellent review which is well worth reading:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
March 13, 2025
Fenomenalny reportaż, rzetelny, nie szukający tanich szokerów i sensacji - prawdziwa historia jest wystarczająco frustrująca i wywolująca gniew, nie trzeba jej jeszcze tanio napompowywać. Dużo miejsca poświęcono astronautom-ofiarom, przez co sam finał jest jeszcze bardziej bolesny i mimo że przecież wiemy, co się wydarza, to jakoś w głowie się odtwarza mantryczne nie, nie, nie, nie.
Jaki z tego wszystkiego morał? Umywające ręce państwo i korporacje zniszczą świat bo pieniądze, bo chujowo rozumiana lojalność, bo "renoma", i to było wiadomo już dawno, ale każde potwierdzenie jest jeszcze bardziej dołujące.
Jaki z tego wszystkiego morał? Umywające ręce państwo i korporacje zniszczą świat bo pieniądze, bo chujowo rozumiana lojalność, bo "renoma", i to było wiadomo już dawno, ale każde potwierdzenie jest jeszcze bardziej dołujące.
November 5, 2024
‘Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space” by Adam Higgenbotham is a masterpiece of history writing. Pulling together facts from many sources as well as putting it all together in a coherent timeline, while at the same time writing in a manner that keeps the interest of readers, is a difficult job. Sometimes, readers can become overwhelmed by facts and figures, and in other non-fiction books I have read, the ‘voice’ is leaden, or the text is confusing about the order of events. But Higgenbotham avoids the many pitfalls which make reading about history a slog. I was engaged chapter after chapter. But the final chapters are horrifying.
I have copied the book blurb:
”From the New York Times bestselling author of Midnight in Chernobyl comes the definitive, dramatic, minute-by-minute story of the Challenger disaster based on fascinating new archival research and in-depth reporting—a riveting history that reads like a thriller.
On January 28, 1986, just seventy-three seconds into flight, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven people on board. Millions of Americans witnessed the tragic deaths of a crew including New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.
Like the assassination of JFK, the Challenger disaster is a defining moment in 20th century history—one that forever changed the way America thought of itself and its optimistic view of the future. Yet the full story of what happened, and why, has never been told. Until now. Based on extensive archival research and meticulous, original reporting, An American Tragedy follows a handful of central protagonists—including each of the seven members of the doomed crew—through the years leading up to the accident, a detailed account of the tragedy itself, and into the investigation that followed.
It’s a compelling tale of optimism and promise undermined by political cynicism and cost-cutting in the interests of burnishing national prestige; of hubris and heroism; and of an investigation driven by leakers and whistleblowers determined to bring the truth to light. Throughout, there are the ominous warning signs of a tragedy to come, recognized but then ignored, and later hidden from the public. Higginbotham reveals the history of the shuttle program, the lives of men and women whose stories have been overshadowed by the disaster as well as the designers, engineers and test pilots who struggled against the odds to get the first shuttle into space. A masterful blend of riveting human drama and fascinating and absorbing science, Challenger brings to life a turning point in history—and the result is an even more complex and astonishing story than we remember.”
I have nothing but admiration for “the five lepers.” I wish I had a magic gifting wand to give you all what you deserved for your courage and sacrifice. I wish I could say that the destruction of your careers for coming forward and testifying, telling Truth to Power, hadn’t been in vain, but the destruction of the Columbia in 2003 does not bode well in extrapolating forward. Is NASA reformed? Idk. As Richard Feynman wrote in his Appendix F report, ”For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.”
Yet, NASA has done so much for Humanity in spite of its upper management. Full stop. I am crossing my fingers that the hubris and mismanagement by NASA’s leadership in the past is not happening at SpaceX. Kudos to every engineer involved in the technology of spaceships who has ever dreamed of going to space and tried to make that dream reality. Rotten tomatoes to those in space-company management who think they make stuff work by bullying engineers and scientists to lie about physics and science principles, and to cover up the resulting fiascos. NASA management in the 1980’s and 1990‘s specialized only in pretending physics is nothing but a collection of malleable ideas that can be reworked into a cheaper low-cost functionality or ignored entirely in order to meet management goals. I have nothing but admiration for the brave folks who volunteer to be astronauts. They truly are first among the real-life members of the group of courageous and hopeful representatives of Humanity. I am not certain that we deserve their efforts to showcase Humanity as being the best ‘we’ can be. They definitely ARE the best THEY can be.
The book has photos, Note on Sources, a Reading Group Guide, Notes, Bibliography and Index sections.
I have copied the book blurb:
”From the New York Times bestselling author of Midnight in Chernobyl comes the definitive, dramatic, minute-by-minute story of the Challenger disaster based on fascinating new archival research and in-depth reporting—a riveting history that reads like a thriller.
On January 28, 1986, just seventy-three seconds into flight, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven people on board. Millions of Americans witnessed the tragic deaths of a crew including New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.
Like the assassination of JFK, the Challenger disaster is a defining moment in 20th century history—one that forever changed the way America thought of itself and its optimistic view of the future. Yet the full story of what happened, and why, has never been told. Until now. Based on extensive archival research and meticulous, original reporting, An American Tragedy follows a handful of central protagonists—including each of the seven members of the doomed crew—through the years leading up to the accident, a detailed account of the tragedy itself, and into the investigation that followed.
It’s a compelling tale of optimism and promise undermined by political cynicism and cost-cutting in the interests of burnishing national prestige; of hubris and heroism; and of an investigation driven by leakers and whistleblowers determined to bring the truth to light. Throughout, there are the ominous warning signs of a tragedy to come, recognized but then ignored, and later hidden from the public. Higginbotham reveals the history of the shuttle program, the lives of men and women whose stories have been overshadowed by the disaster as well as the designers, engineers and test pilots who struggled against the odds to get the first shuttle into space. A masterful blend of riveting human drama and fascinating and absorbing science, Challenger brings to life a turning point in history—and the result is an even more complex and astonishing story than we remember.”
I have nothing but admiration for “the five lepers.” I wish I had a magic gifting wand to give you all what you deserved for your courage and sacrifice. I wish I could say that the destruction of your careers for coming forward and testifying, telling Truth to Power, hadn’t been in vain, but the destruction of the Columbia in 2003 does not bode well in extrapolating forward. Is NASA reformed? Idk. As Richard Feynman wrote in his Appendix F report, ”For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.”
Yet, NASA has done so much for Humanity in spite of its upper management. Full stop. I am crossing my fingers that the hubris and mismanagement by NASA’s leadership in the past is not happening at SpaceX. Kudos to every engineer involved in the technology of spaceships who has ever dreamed of going to space and tried to make that dream reality. Rotten tomatoes to those in space-company management who think they make stuff work by bullying engineers and scientists to lie about physics and science principles, and to cover up the resulting fiascos. NASA management in the 1980’s and 1990‘s specialized only in pretending physics is nothing but a collection of malleable ideas that can be reworked into a cheaper low-cost functionality or ignored entirely in order to meet management goals. I have nothing but admiration for the brave folks who volunteer to be astronauts. They truly are first among the real-life members of the group of courageous and hopeful representatives of Humanity. I am not certain that we deserve their efforts to showcase Humanity as being the best ‘we’ can be. They definitely ARE the best THEY can be.
The book has photos, Note on Sources, a Reading Group Guide, Notes, Bibliography and Index sections.
June 15, 2024
Adam Higginbotham has become today's best chronicler of man-made catastrophes. The author of the magnificent "Midnight in Chernobyl" in 2019 has written another winner in "Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space". As in "Chernobyl" the author shows the buildup to the disaster and the following investigations that stresses why, largely due to human error and carelessness, the disasters didn't have to happen.
And there is plenty of blame to go around in the Challenger disaster. NASA's enormously successful Apollo program that landed astronauts on the moon went into a slow decline as the American public yawned at more moon landings. The mission was accomplished, why do we need to keep doing it? As funding dwindled NASA's next big program was the Space Shuttle, a reusable spacecraft that could perform experiments and launch commercial and defense satellites while in space. And flights could be routine, perhaps twice a month. NASA set up an ambitious schedule with a lot of fanfare for each launch. But again the public's interest waned - the death watch for future funding. NASA tried to spur interest; the first woman in space; the first African American in space; the first politician. How about he first civilian? Yeah, that's the ticket! A country-wide search for the perfect candidate was conducted and it was Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from Concord, New Hampshire. Her plan was to conduct a science class in space for her pupils.
But NASA's ambitious number of flights were threatened by bad weather in Cape Canaveral causing delays and a backup in flights. Which brings us to the second villain. The space shuttle had been plagued by problems with O-rings which sealed the joints of the rocket stages that prevented gases from leaking which could potentially destroy the shuttle. The O-rings had been damaged on previous shuttle flights but there was always a second ring for backup. On a previous flight there was significant damage when the shuttle took off in particularly cold weather. It was determined that taking off in temperature below 53 degrees was unsafe. On the morning Challenger launched the temperature was below freezing.
It all came down to a meeting the night before the launch at the offices of Morton Thiokol where the O-rings for the booster rockets were discussed. Many of the engineers implored management to tell NASA not to launch. But NASA was Morton Thiokol's largest customer and management knew that NASA was under the gun to launch and also didn't want to admit that there was a problem with the O-rings. It was a fatal decision not to warn them.
Astronaut Alan Shepard's oft quoted remark that it's sobering to think that an astronaut's safety is being determined by the lowest bidder is always good for a laugh but it's a tragic requiem for the brave souls who perished on the Challenger. This was a terrific book and I will look forward to anything written by Alan Higginbotham. But because of the tragic material of the Chernobyl incident and the Challenger disaster I pray he that doesn't have to.
And there is plenty of blame to go around in the Challenger disaster. NASA's enormously successful Apollo program that landed astronauts on the moon went into a slow decline as the American public yawned at more moon landings. The mission was accomplished, why do we need to keep doing it? As funding dwindled NASA's next big program was the Space Shuttle, a reusable spacecraft that could perform experiments and launch commercial and defense satellites while in space. And flights could be routine, perhaps twice a month. NASA set up an ambitious schedule with a lot of fanfare for each launch. But again the public's interest waned - the death watch for future funding. NASA tried to spur interest; the first woman in space; the first African American in space; the first politician. How about he first civilian? Yeah, that's the ticket! A country-wide search for the perfect candidate was conducted and it was Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from Concord, New Hampshire. Her plan was to conduct a science class in space for her pupils.
But NASA's ambitious number of flights were threatened by bad weather in Cape Canaveral causing delays and a backup in flights. Which brings us to the second villain. The space shuttle had been plagued by problems with O-rings which sealed the joints of the rocket stages that prevented gases from leaking which could potentially destroy the shuttle. The O-rings had been damaged on previous shuttle flights but there was always a second ring for backup. On a previous flight there was significant damage when the shuttle took off in particularly cold weather. It was determined that taking off in temperature below 53 degrees was unsafe. On the morning Challenger launched the temperature was below freezing.
It all came down to a meeting the night before the launch at the offices of Morton Thiokol where the O-rings for the booster rockets were discussed. Many of the engineers implored management to tell NASA not to launch. But NASA was Morton Thiokol's largest customer and management knew that NASA was under the gun to launch and also didn't want to admit that there was a problem with the O-rings. It was a fatal decision not to warn them.
Astronaut Alan Shepard's oft quoted remark that it's sobering to think that an astronaut's safety is being determined by the lowest bidder is always good for a laugh but it's a tragic requiem for the brave souls who perished on the Challenger. This was a terrific book and I will look forward to anything written by Alan Higginbotham. But because of the tragic material of the Chernobyl incident and the Challenger disaster I pray he that doesn't have to.
March 3, 2025
Wieksza część książki to w zasadzie historia programu kosmicznego i agencji NASA. Sama katastrofa Challengera jest niejako zwieńczeniem tej historii, zrekonstruowana sekunda po sekundzie, oddana w najdrobniejszych szczegółach.
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