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

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Winner of the 2024 Kirkus Nonfiction Prize • Shortlisted for the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction • A New York Times Notable Book of 2024 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Stunning…A heart-pounding thriller…Challenger is a remarkable book.” —The Atlantic • “Devastating…A universal story that transcends time.” —The New York Times • “Dramatic…a moving narrative.” —The Wall Street Journal From the New York Times bestselling author of Midnight in Chernobyl comes the definitive, “compelling, and exhaustively researched” (The Washington Post) minute-by-minute account of the Challenger disaster, based on fascinating and new archival research—a riveting history that reads like a thriller. On January 28, 1986, just seventy-three seconds into flight, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven people on board. Millions of Americans witnessed the tragic deaths of the crew, which included New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. Like the assassination of JFK, the Challenger disaster is a defining moment in 20th-century history—one that forever changed the way America thought of itself and its optimistic view of the future. Yet the full story of what happened, and why, has never been told. Based on extensive archival research and metic­ulous, original reporting, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space follows a handful of central protagonists—including each of the seven members of the doomed crew—through the years leading up to the accident, and offers a detailed account of the tragedy itself and the inves­tigation afterward. It’s a compelling tale of ambition and ingenuity undermined by political cynicism and cost-cutting in the interests of burnishing national prestige; of hubris and heroism; and of an investigation driven by leakers and whistleblowers determined to bring the truth to light. Throughout, there are the ominous warning signs of a tragedy to come, recognized but then ignored, and later hidden from the public. Higginbotham reveals the history of the shuttle program and the lives of men and women whose stories have been overshadowed by the disaster, as well as the designers, engineers, and test pilots who struggled against the odds to get the first shuttle into space. A masterful blend of riveting human drama and fascinating and absorbing science, Challenger identifies a turning point in history—and brings to life an even more complex and astonishing story than we remember. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster (May 14, 2024)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 576 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 198217661X


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 17


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.8 x 9 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #1,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #1 in Astronautics & Space Flight #2 in Aeronautics & Astronautics (Books) #5 in Scientist Biographies


#1 in Astronautics & Space Flight:


#2 in Aeronautics & Astronautics (Books):


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • Excellent examination of the space shuttle program and Challenger disaster
Readers interested in the U.S. space program, the history of space flight, the shuttle program, and/or the Challenger disaster will want to take a good long look at Andrew Higginbotham’s “Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space.” It’s an excellent piece of reportage comparable to books and films such as “The Right Stuff,” “Apollo 13,” “A Man on the Moon,” and most recently “The Six” (about America’s first women in space.) Not only is it the story of Challenger, it is also an in-depth examination of America’s space program after Apollo and the political, bureaucratic, public relations, and funding challenges NASA faced as it considered its next steps, having reached the moon. Higginbotham not only details how the shuttle was developed and built—and the decisions that would play a part in the Challenger disaster—he also introduces us to many key players involved in the shuttle program, including astronauts such as Judith Resnick, Sally Ride, Ron McNair, and Ellison Onizuka, portraying how NASA transformed its astronaut corps from an all-white, all-male group of fighter/test pilots eager to prove they had the “right stuff,” to a more balanced and diverse group of men and women with backgrounds in engineering and science. Mr. Higginbotham writes well. His style is clear, straightforward, and eminently readable. He is particularly adept at describing the technical aspects of, for instance, rocketry, space flight, and spacecraft design simply so that it is easily understood. Bottom-line, I found this to be an excellent non-fiction tale very well told. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2024 by William de Rham
    • Great book and worth the read!
Never heard of this author until recently, so I bought this book. He is one of the most detail-oriented authors I've read in some time. This is not light reading - he goes into minute detail of every aspect of the Challenger disaster. It takes a long time to read because of his thorough detail, but I enjoyed it a ton. So much so, that I bought his book on the Chernobyl disaster which I am reading right now. Great purchase. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2024 by Fullboogie
    • Powerful
As someone who watched this unfold in Biology class, the impact of this isn’t in question, but the critical details in construction and history of the program are compelling. The decisions made prior to launch are eye-opening. This is an outstanding read and virtually a must for those of my generation. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2024 by Frank C. Hoeppel
    • Another well written book from Higginbotham, but needlessly confusing temperature discussion
Adam Higginbotham, who also wrote the excellent "Midnight in Chernobyl," has again done a thorough job of interviewing hundreds of people and amassing thousands of facts, and then placing them in context in a compelling narrative. Once again, human hubris, and the catastrophic errors that resulted when dozens of scientists and engineers gave in to social pressures and sucummbed to groupthink, turn out to be the cause of the disasters described by these books. The book is marred somewhat, though, by Higginbotham's mystifying inability to describe in understandable terms the low ambient temperatures that apparently caused one of the Challenger's solid rocket boosters to rupture during launch. Maybe he struggled with converting to Fahrenheit from the Celsius scale used in the UK, and maybe, for all his scientific expertise, he doesn't understand the difference between a ratio and an interval variable, but neither the author nor his editors apparently saw a problem with the text they used to describe the unusually low temperatures seen at the Cape in winter 1985 and 1986. At one point the book refers to temperatures "14 degrees below freezing" without mentioning which scale he's using. I think Higginbotham meant the temperatures got down to 18 F, but readers outside the USA may have thought he meant -14 C, far colder than 18 F (which is about -8 C). No American would think that saying "the outdoor temperature is 14 degress below freezing" is easier to comprehend than just saying "it was 18 F," so this is a very weird use of words. Worse, at another point in the book, when Higginbotham is trying to contrast the typical shuttle launch temperatures for most of the year (in the 60s F or warmer) with the extremely low temperatures in January of '85 and '86, he talks about those winter temperatures being "less than half" of normal. ARRRGH!!! Unless one is referrring to temperature in degrees Kelvin. implying that temperature is a ratio variable, i.e. a value where using terms like half, twice, etc. has any meaning, this is completely inappropriate. And you don't have to be a science nerd to know intuitively that temperature is an interval variable. I find it appalling that even a writer as good as Higginbotham apparently doesn't have access to editors with any science background, and when writing about a topic where physics and chemistry play a dominant role, no less! OK, I'm getting off my science nerd soapbox here in Alaska, where our current temperature is probably only half of yours [sic]. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2024 by Ms. Parky
    • Outstanding book
If you are at all interested in what led up to the Challenger disaster, this it a must read. The author researches the topic very thoroughly and writes in a clear, concise manner that puts you in the middle of the action. He also wrote Midnight at Chernobyl which is also equally well written. I can't say enough good things about his work. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2024 by Mr. Boo
    • "for nature cannot be fooled"
This is an exciting, fascinating book about the history of the NASA space programs, with emphasis on the space shuttle program in particular. The chapters leading up to the launch of the Challenger and its destruction read like a tense thriller. I found Higginbotham's account of the various engineering problems involved in successfully launching a vehicle into space especially interesting, and I also found the failure of the leadership in the various agencies involved in the manufacture and launch of the shuttle to be just frustrating. The heart-wrenching part was reading about the lives of the seven astronauts while knowing how this was going to turn out. I've encouraged other people to read this book, and I intend to keep my copy to read again. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2024 by Steve D.

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