Challenger

by Malcolm McConnell

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385238770
• ISBN13: 9780385238779
• Release Date: December 1986
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 269 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Choosing "romantic myth over a practical space policy."

Malcolm McConnell, a renown author and reporter at Cape Canaveral to cover the Teacher-in-Space launch, writes a revealing account of the events that led to the Challenger tragedy as well as the launch itself. Here are some of the things covered in this book:--The controversy over the issuing of contracts to Rockwell and Thiokol in the 1970s.--How the campaigns of Nixon and Reagan influenced events that led to the tragedy, in the latter case, why the "Teacher-in-Space" program was so important for political image.--How employees, especially at the Marshall Space Center, were treated.--Concerns of pilot Mike Smith days before his final flight.--Ways in which Reagan's Sate of the Union address, the Soviet's plan to examine Halley's Comet, and Congressman Bill Nelson's insistence on being on Columbia for the 61-C mission may have contributed to the event.--Step-by-step details on the procedures and concerns leading to the ill-fated launch. It also covers the daily life of the crew from their big press conference to the end.Published in 1988, the book does not go too much into the aftermath of the tragedy, although it does include an epilogue that tells the fate of some of the execs connected to the launch. There are sporadic references to the Rogers Commission's findings. It is written in the clear, precise in-the-moment style of an accomplished journalist who knows his subject inside in out. There are also two sets of photos.