Challenger

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.