The Challenger Launch Decision
Title | The Challenger Launch Decision PDF eBook |
Author | Diane Vaughan |
Publisher | University of Chicago Press |
Pages | 622 |
Release | 2016-01-04 |
Genre | Technology & Engineering |
ISBN | 022634696X |
“An in-depth account of the events and personal actions which led to a great tragedy in the history of America’s space program.” —James D. Smith, former Solid Rocket Booster Chief, NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center When the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986, millions of Americans became bound together in a single, historic moment. Many still vividly remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard about the tragedy. Diane Vaughan recreates the steps leading up to that fateful decision, contradicting conventional interpretations to prove that what occurred at NASA was not skullduggery or misconduct but a disastrous mistake. Why did NASA managers, who not only had all the information prior to the launch but also were warned against it, decide to proceed? In retelling how the decision unfolded through the eyes of the managers and the engineers, Vaughan uncovers an incremental descent into poor judgment, supported by a culture of high-risk technology. She reveals how and why NASA insiders, when repeatedly faced with evidence that something was wrong, normalized the deviance so that it became acceptable to them. In a new preface, Vaughan reveals the ramifications for this book and for her when a similar decision-making process brought down NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003. “Vaughn finds the traditional explanation of the [Challenger] accident to be profoundly unsatisfactory . . . One by one, she unravels the conclusions of the Rogers Commission.” —The New York Times “A landmark study.” —Atlantic “Vaughn gives us a rare view into the working level realities of NASA . . . The cumulative force of her argument and evidence is compelling.” —Scientific American
Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident
Title | Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident PDF eBook |
Author | DIANE Publishing Company |
Publisher | DIANE Publishing |
Pages | 267 |
Release | 1995-07 |
Genre | |
ISBN | 0788119125 |
Truth, Lies, and O-Rings
Title | Truth, Lies, and O-Rings PDF eBook |
Author | Allan J. McDonald |
Publisher | University Press of Florida |
Pages | 1075 |
Release | 2012-03-11 |
Genre | Technology & Engineering |
ISBN | 0813047013 |
On a cold January morning in 1986, NASA launched the Space Shuttle Challenger, despite warnings against doing so by many individuals, including Allan McDonald. The fiery destruction of Challenger on live television moments after launch remains an indelible image in the nation’s collective memory. In Truth, Lies, and O-Rings, McDonald, a skilled engineer and executive, relives the tragedy from where he stood at Launch Control Center. As he fought to draw attention to the real reasons behind the disaster, he was the only one targeted for retribution by both NASA and his employer, Morton Thiokol, Inc., makers of the shuttle's solid rocket boosters. In this whistle-blowing yet rigorous and fair-minded book, McDonald, with the assistance of internationally distinguished aerospace historian James R. Hansen, addresses all of the factors that led to the accident, some of which were never included in NASA's Failure Team report submitted to the Presidential Commission. Truth, Lies, and O-Rings is the first look at the Challenger tragedy and its aftermath from someone who was on the inside, recognized the potential disaster, and tried to prevent it. It also addresses the early warnings of very severe debris issues from the first two post-Challenger flights, which ultimately resulted in the loss of Columbia some fifteen years later.
The Burning Blue
Title | The Burning Blue PDF eBook |
Author | Kevin Cook |
Publisher | Henry Holt and Company |
Pages | 320 |
Release | 2021-06-08 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 1250755565 |
The untold story of a national trauma—NASA’s Challenger explosion—and what really happened to America’s Teacher in Space, illuminating the tragic cost of humanity setting its sight on the stars You’ve seen the pictures. You know what happened. Or do you? On January 28, 1986, NASA’s space shuttle Challenger exploded after blasting off from Cape Canaveral. Christa McAuliffe, America’s “Teacher in Space,” was instantly killed, along with the other six members of the mission. At least that's what most of us remember. Kevin Cook tells us what really happened on that ill-fated, unforgettable day. He traces the pressures—leading from NASA to the White House—that triggered the fatal order to launch on an ice-cold Florida morning. Cook takes readers inside the shuttle for the agonizing minutes after the explosion, which the astronauts did indeed survive. He uncovers the errors and corner-cutting that led an overconfident space agency to launch a crew that had no chance to escape. But this is more than a corrective to a now-dimming memory. Centering on McAuliffe, a charmingly down-to-earth civilian on the cusp of history, The Burning Blue animates a colorful cast of characters: a pair of red-hot flyers at the shuttle's controls, the second female and first Jewish astronaut, the second Black astronaut, and the first Asian American and Buddhist in space. Drawing vivid portraits of Christa and the astronauts, Cook makes readers forget the fate they're hurtling toward. With drama, immediacy, and shocking surprises, he reveals the human price the Challenger crew and America paid for politics, capital-P Progress, and the national dream of "reaching for the stars."
The U.S. Space Program After Challenger
Title | The U.S. Space Program After Challenger PDF eBook |
Author | Alan Stern |
Publisher | Franklin Watts |
Pages | 128 |
Release | 1987-01-01 |
Genre | Astronautics |
ISBN | 9780531104125 |
Discusses the investigation into the Challenger catastrophe, the reshaping of NASA, the debate over manned versus unmanned space flights, and the future possibilities for commercial enterprises in space.
The Challenger Space Shuttle Explosion
Title | The Challenger Space Shuttle Explosion PDF eBook |
Author | William Caper |
Publisher | Bearport Publishing |
Pages | 36 |
Release | 2007-01-01 |
Genre | Juvenile Nonfiction |
ISBN | 1597163678 |
Discusses the Challenger space shuttle explosion, including information on the shuttle, the crew, and what went wrong.
Space Challenger
Title | Space Challenger PDF eBook |
Author | James Haskins |
Publisher | Twenty-First Century Books |
Pages | 68 |
Release | 1984-01-01 |
Genre | Juvenile Nonfiction |
ISBN | 9780876142592 |
A biography of Guy Bluford, the first black American in space, part of the crew of the space shuttle "Challenger" on its August 1983 flight.