pickThis book was respectful, beautifully written, exhaustively researched storytelling at its finest. Even though I knew how things were going to end up, this was still a nail-biter. I caught myself thinking, wow, I really really really hope they call off this launch… It might not seem like a glowing recommendation to say, “Read this! It gave me nightmares!” but it really is one of the best nonfiction books I‘ve ever read.
pickPowerful and compelling. I‘ve seen a few reviews complaining that it felt like too much NASA history rather than focusing only on the Challenger itself, but I truly believe the historical context is necessary to explain some decision-making down the line that seems inexplicable on its own. There was a lot I didn‘t know about the Rogers Commission findings (I was only 10, ok) and I knew nothing about Thiokol‘s warnings about the O-rings. ✨5 stars✨
In a book with so many sad, heartbreaking moments, this sentence has to be the saddest.
“The Columbia Accident Investigation Board delivered its report on August 26, 2003, and concluded that many of the lessons of the Challenger disaster had gone unheeded.”
pickThis an exceptionally deep dive into the NASA shuttle program, culminating in the devastating - and tragically preventable - explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986. Gives me a new respect for the bravery of the astronauts. But it was a great disappointment to learn how NASA was run and the disservice done in failing to protect the lives of those willing to risk their lives to venture into space.
pickThis was an incredibly thorough look at what led up to the Challenger space shuttle disaster. The author starts all the way back in the beginning of the space race to show how systemic failures, political maneuvers, and human hubris, led to the dangers being ignored. Some of the science/engineering vocabulary was a bit beyond me. But I really appreciated how much he humanized the people involved, especially the astronauts and their families.
I‘m not finished with this book yet, but I‘m still counting in as my favorite book of the month. Incredible storytelling; he expertly combines the human side of things with the technical details that I‘m so interested in.
Best laid plans …
My holds came in on Challenger and Intermezzo, so I‘m bumping them ahead of my bookspin picks and reading them next.
pickThis was an emotional read for me! I was in 4th grade in Florida when it happened. My class stepped outside to watch so I saw the explosion live in the sky. And in hindsight there were so many reasons to not launch that day 😔 The story was well told by the author.
By the time the design was complete...engineers... still believed they were employing a tried-and-tested joint for their new rocket: they had avoided any potentially dangerous innovation. But this was a convenient delusion.... in creating a man-rated, fail-safe joint they had also modified it so extensively that what they produced was, in effect, a quite new and experimental design.
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Cue the ominous soundtrack...
