Review: Challenger
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 14, 2014
On January 28th, 1986, the Challenger space shuttle failed just after launch. The author, who was present, reconstructs what went wrong, and succeeds in making this a human story.This is a short book with several excellent photos, including the icicles dangling from the rocket on the morning of her launch. Troughs of water under the launch pad should absorb the sound waves; these troughs with added antifreeze had all frozen and had to be broken loose, emptied and refilled with stronger antifreeze.  This made me think that nobody sane would start a risky journey in a car on such a day.NASA's news reporter, author Hugh Harris, thought all was going well, with every word spoken by the astronauts, which included a civilian schoolteacher, relayed to flight control. A minute and thirteen seconds after launch Challenger exploded. The shock among watchers was extreme but soon professionalism took over, as Harris puts it. All notes were impounded in case they might shed light on the cause of the disaster.President Reagan was told and immediately postponed his State of the Union Address to prepare to speak to the public. Vice President George Bush was aboard Air Force One when it touched down at the launch base at 5.30pm, and former astronaut John Glenn was one of the senators aboard. Their concern was to meet the bereft families.An investigative committee independent of NASA was assembled. It is doubtful that such powerful names have ever been employed on the one project - Richard Feynman, Neil Armstrong, Sally Ride, Chuck Yeager, are the best known. Reporter Jay Barbree was asking his sources for information, and found that analysis of video tapes showed the failure point. Gaining a second comment for confirmation, he broke the news on TV. Between the committee and the press, the engineering issue with parts in the extreme cold became so well known that it is now taught in every relevant school in the world. Sound prior advice was ignored.The book looks at the recovery of the wreck, engineering processes and the next staffed space launch, three years later. Harris reminds us of the many benefits of the space programme, from satellites to biomonitoring and new materials. The International Space Station is one of humankind's greatest built achievements.  This book is neither so simply written as to be for the general reader nor so densely technical as to be only for the scientist. Anyone wishing to analyse that brief period in history will find it fascinating.  I would point out however that the whole world was watching that day. This book may be called CHALLENGER - AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY but it was actually a global tragedy.