posted September 25, 2008 11:57 PM               

• Hardcover: 576 pages
  
• Publisher: University Press of Florida (May 13, 2009)
  
• ISBN-10: 0813033268
  
• ISBN-13: 978-0813033266

posted September 29, 2008 01:59 PM               

• First book written on the Challenger accident by someone who was actually involved in the decision to launch and the aftermath;

• First book to address all of the factors that led to the accident, some of which were never addressed in NASA's Failure Team report submitted to the Presidential Commission;

• First book that contains anyone's personal experiences as a "whistleblower," retribution against that individual by his company, and his reinstatement to lead the redesign as a result of pressure from the Presidential Commission and the U.S. Congress;

• First book to critically evaluate all testimony given to the Presidential Commission and the U.S. Congress and to point out conflicts and evidence of a cover-up by NASA concerning the launch decision;

• First book to address the controversy, conflicts, and difficulties encountered in the redesign program to restore the Shuttle to safe flight ASAP.

• First book to address early warnings of very severe debris issues from the first two flights after Challenger in 1988 that later resulted in the loss of Columbia some 15 years later.

• First book to address what happened to all of the people at NASA and Morton Thiokol that were involved in that ill-fated decision to launch the Challenger on that cold chilly morning of January 28, 1986.

posted September 29, 2008 02:24 PM               

Foreword
Prologue: Cold, Hard Facts

Part One: Red Flags

Chapter 1 - When It Rains It Pours
Chapter 2 - Tests and 'No-Tests'
Chapter 3 - Dire Warning
Chapter 4 - A Total O-Ring Failure
Chapter 5 - An Impotent Task Force
Chapter 6 - 'In the Interest of Avoiding Pain'

Part Two: Misdiagnosis

Chapter 7 - The Teleconference
Chapter 8 - The Caucus
Chapter 9 - 'Obviously, A Major Malfunction'
Chapter 10 - 'Don't Blame Yourself'
Chapter 11 - 'When is the Space Shuttle Going Up, Daddy?'

Part Three: Search For The Truth

Chapter 12 - Shocking the Presidential Commission
Chapter 13 - Cover-Up
Chapter 14 - 'God, That Took a Lot of Guts'
Chapter 15 - A Leper in the Limelight
Chapter 16 - Walking Out
Chapter 17 - 'The Extremes of Allowable Engineering'
Chapter 18 - Changing Hats and Minds

Part Four: Obfuscation

Chapter 19 - Rationalization and Innuendo
Chapter 20 - 31 Degrees?
Chapter 21 - We Have a Problem with Houston
Chapter 22 - Finger Pointing
Chapter 23 - The Apocalypse Letter
Chapter 24 - 'Trouble with Your Logic'
Chapter 25 - The Monkey Changes Backs

Part Five: Commissioners And Congressmen

Chapter 26 - The Green Ball Theory
Chapter 27 - Commencement
Chapter 28 - Commodore Locke Assailed in Washington
Chapter 29 - The Bucks Stops Here?

Part Six: No Consensus

Chapter 30 - The Bell Tolls for Thee
Chapter 31 - Redesign and Resurrection
Chapter 32 - Boisjoly's $2 Billion Lawsuit
Chapter 33 - No Mountain Too High
Chapter 34 - The Peacekeeper Explosion
Chapter 35 - Witness for the Defense...and Prosecution
Chapter 36 - Confirming the Silver Bullet

Part Seven: Return-To-Flight

Chapter 37 - Flight of the Phoenix
Chapter 38 - Premonitions
Chapter 39 - Dissolution
Chapter 40 - Requiem

Mcdonald Biography: Big Sky Values
Bibliographical Essay
References
Glossary
Acknowledgments
Index

posted September 30, 2008 10:47 AM               

Cheers,