Truth Lies and O-Rings: Inside the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
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About this book
What they didnt want you to know "We all watched in shock and disbelief when Challenger was lost. Probably no one felt more disappointment and regret than Allan McDonald who had warned us not to launch that day. His story tells of loss grief and the eventual rebuilding and recovery."--Robert "Hoot" Gibson former Space Shuttle pilot and commander "A major contribution to a difficult episode in the history of human spaceflight."--Roger D. Launius Division of Space History Smithsonian Institution McDonald tells the heartbreaking tale of how he saw his words of warning ignored and the fateful consequences of that decision.--Donald C. Elder III Eastern New Mexico University 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 nations 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 shuttles 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 NASAs 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.
