Mika’s Reviews > Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space > Status Update

End chpt 27. The remains were found and the final verdict reached. I was very intrigued by this chapter since the salvage operation was the main star of this one. The detail about the unbroken jar of jif peanut butter being found in the crew cabin under the sea after the previous chapter where the wife kept accidentally buying it at the grocery for her dead husband was heart breaking.

End chpt 26. Ill say it again, mcdonald and boisjoly are truly incredible for standing up to nasa and their company. I agree with the statement that mcdonald was an american hero for this act. It’s also fascinating to read about the salvage mission. So morbidly cool to see how that was handled. The detail about the morning families, specifically june accidentally buying pb for her dead husband is heartbreaking

End chpt 25. This is where stuff gets interesting. Now all the threads are being pulled and the coverup is coming out. Im very happy the engineers at Thiokol had empathy and ethics, reading about McDonald speaking up at the hearing while his superiors were trying to cover up their involvement is inspiring. I hope i always have such resolve for justice and truth even in the face of huge pushback.

End chpt 24. All about the immediate aftermath and shock of the tragedy. The whole chapter really envelopes the feeling of intensive shock that happens after tragedy. It’s the quiet during the eye of the storm, just delt with a storm prior but have much more to go.

End chpt 23. If the last chapter was the most enraging this one was the most sad. The incident finally occurring and over. The scene where the closeout specialist saw terror in Mcauliffe’s face was so heart breaking. The excitement of Greg to go to space only for his life to end like this is tragic beyond words. Very well written chapter, I was full of anxiety while reading it.

End chpt 22. This is an infuriating chapter. Pure negligence and concealment. Shout out the engineers and mcdonald for not being willing to go along with this shit and trying to convince NASA to stop the launch. Shame on the Thiokol exec team for not standing up for their people and saying no to NASA all because NASA threatened them if they postponed the launch.

End chpt 21. If so many people recommended not to launch this thing then wtf did it launch? God i feel bad for the o ring task force, they wanted to make this thing safe so badly.

End chpt 20. Its getting more emotional to read these chapters since I know their deaths are so close. What horrifically bad luck it was that the launch was scrubbed on the day it would have been perfect to fly, it could have saved everyone’s lives. Seeing how everyone’s families were excited and nervous just makes me feel awful.

Mcauliffe’s quote about tuning in on day 4 to watch her two lessons taught from space fills me with a type of grief I don’t often get the chance to feel. The grief of knowing exactly what could have been and what never came to be. What a treasure we all were deprived of witnessing, her two special lessons taught from space.

End part 2. The final characterization of all the astronauts and the people responsible. I think the next few chapters are going to be very intense. Mcauliffe is so personable it is a damn shame she dies so tragically.