Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space

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The definitive, dramatic, minute-by-minute story of the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster by New York Times-bestselling author Adam Higginbotham, based on fascinating new archival research and in-depth reporting - a riveting history that reads like a thriller The Challenger space shuttle was the most complicated machine ever built and Mission 51-L was an event to define a generation- it had the largest and most diverse intake of astronauts in NASA history and it would launch into orbit Christa McAuliffe, the world's first 'Teacher In Space'. The mission was emblematic of an America standing tall once again, revitalised under its new leader, President Ronald Reagan. On Tuesday 28 January 1986 when Challenger was launched into space, the shuttle exploded into a fireball in the sky above the Atlantic Ocean, just over a minute into its journey. The seven men and women onboard were killed, and the disaster was watched live by millions around the world. The long chain of events that led to the disaster, and the aftermath of the tragedy, have remained clouded by time, misconception and the complexities of aerospace engineering. Despite months of headlines, video replays of the doomed launch, and a Congressional investigation which itself became a media spectacle, the truth of the accident has never been fully unravelled. To most, it was known simply as the catastrophe that killed Christina McAuliffe, the Teacher in Space. In this jaw-dropping account based on deep archival research and original reporting, award-winning journalist Adam Higginbotham reveals the lives of the men and women whose stories have been overshadowed by the disaster, not only the seven members of the Challenger crew, but the designers, engineers and test pilots who knew that shortcuts were being taken. A tale of hubris and over-reach on the 'high frontier', as well as spectacle that's never been seen before or since, Challenger is a classic work of storytelling from a master of the form.

Reviews

Praise for Midnight in Chernobyl: 'Adam Higginbotham uses all of the techniques of the top-notch longform journalist to full effect. He swoops us into the heart of the catastrophe' -- Oliver Bullough * Guardian *
Praise for Midnight in Chernobyl: 'Higginbotham's superb account of the April 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is one of those rare books about science and technology that read like a tension-filled thriller. Replete with vivid detail and sharply etched personalities, this narrative of astounding incompetence moves from mistake to mistake, miscalculation to miscalculation, as it builds to the inevitable, history-changing disaster' -- Ten Best Books of 2019 * New York Times *
Praise for Midnight in Chernobyl: 'Adam Higginbotham's brilliantly well-written Midnight In Chernobyl draws on new sources and original research to illuminate the true story of one of history's greatest technological failures - and, along with it, the bewildering reality of everyday life during the final years of the Soviet Union' -- Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gulag: A History and Red Famine: Stalins War On Ukraine
Praise for Midnight in Chernobyl: 'An invaluable contribution to history . . . tells a compelling story exceptionally well' -- Serhii Plokhy * Evening Standard *
Praise for Midnight in Chernobyl: 'A definitive book. Adam Higginbotham has written a wonderful and chilling account of how the Chernobyl disaster happened, featuring protagonists and victims, party bosses and hapless engineers, confusion and cover up. The story of how the reactor exploded and its grisly aftermath are told with thriller-like flair' -- Luke Harding, New York Times-bestselling author of Collusion and The Snowden Files
Praise for Midnight in Chernobyl: 'In chilling detail, this book recounts the many missteps of their response to the disaster. . . . Higginbotham compellingly suggests that these flaws all but predicted the calamityand, in turn, the collapse of the Soviet Union itself' * The New Yorker *
Praise for Midnight in Chernobyl: 'Wonderful and chilling . . . Adam Higginbotham tells the story of the disaster and its gruesome aftermath with thriller-like flair. . . It is a tale of hubris and doomed ambition, featuring Communist party bosses and hapless engineers, victims and villains, confusion and cover-up * Guardian *

Author Bio

Adam Higginbotham writes for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Wired, GQ, Businessweek, Smithsonian, Men's Journal, and The Atavist. He began his career in magazines and newspapers in London, where he was the editor--in-chief of The Face and a contributing editor at The Sunday Telegraph. The author of Midnight in Chernobyl, he lives in New York City.