Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham
Published: 2024
Genre: Nonfiction
Official Synopsis:
(from Amazon.com)
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 the crew, which included New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. Like the assassination of JFK, the Challenger disaster is a defining moment in twentieth-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.
Based on extensive archival research and meticulous, original reporting, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space follows a handful of central protagonists—including each of the seven members of the doomed crew—through the years leading up to the accident, and offers a detailed account of the tragedy itself and the investigation afterward. It’s a compelling tale of ambition and ingenuity 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 and 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 identifies a turning point in history—and brings to life an even more complex and astonishing story than we remember.:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_-04-04-1983--58b848575f9b5880809cfa38.jpeg)
Review:
In Challenger, Adam Higginbotham recounts the disaster of the NASA space shuttle of the same name. Through painstaking research, Higginbotham goes as far back as the inception of the Apollo program - and the disaster of its Apollo I lander - to establish a clear precedent of negligence, bureaucratic red-tape, and lack of funding that contributed to the explosion of the Challenger. As someone who was not alive for the launch of the shuttle and its aftermath (90s baby), I was blown away by the sheer negligence of NASA and its contractors, who were looking to launch the shuttles and continue the program by any means necessary.
While a captivating story, Challenger is dense with cumbersome details of technical specs and other information of the building of the rockets that, while interesting, can hamper one’s reading of the book; I almost did not finish the book in the very beginning due to the sheer amount of technical information being thrown at me, but I persevered and ended up enjoying it. This same amount of exposition might dissuade students from picking up this book, so - should teachers decide to procure Challenger for their own classroom libraries - this will be a case of making sure that you give the right book to the right student(s).
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