posted 10-13-2020 04:04 AM               

The untold story of a national trauma — NASA's Challenger explosion — and what really happened to America's Teacher in Space, illuminating the tragic cost of humanity setting its sight on the stars.

You've seen the pictures. You think you know what happened. You do not.

On the morning of January 28, 1986, NASA's space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after blasting off from Cape Canaveral. Christa McAuliffe, America's "Teacher in Space," was instantly killed, along with the other six members of the mission. Right? Wrong.

Thirty-five years after NASA's revitalization program literally went up in smoke, Kevin Cook uncovers the untold story of the disastrous order to launch on an ice-cold Florida day. For the first time, he takes readers inside the shuttle for those agonizing two minutes and forty-five seconds after the fire which, yes, some of the astronauts survived.

But this is more than a simple corrective to a now-dimming memory. Centering on McAuliffe, a charmingly ordinary civilian on the cusp of history, "The Burning Blue" animates the mission's colorful cast of characters, which featured the second female astronaut (who was also the first Jewish astronaut), the second Black one, and the first Asian-American and Buddhist in space. Drawing intimate portraits of the people wearing the spacesuits and detailing how they earned the right to suit up, Cook makes readers temporarily forget the tragedy toward which the tale is hurtling. Infused with drama, immediacy, and compelling characters, "The Burning Blue" reveals the human price paid for politics and capital-P Progress on that ill-fated, unforgettable morning.

• Hardcover: 320 pages
  
• Henry Holt and Co. (June 8, 2021)
  
• ISBN-10: 1250755557
  
• ISBN-13: 978-1250755551

posted 10-13-2020 09:53 AM            

For the first time, he takes readers inside the shuttle for those agonizing two minutes and forty-five seconds after the fire which, yes, some of the astronauts survived.

However, seem to recall that NASA said that in deference to the families of the crew they would classify all downlink or black box data and not reveal the details of what was actually going on inside the orbiter during that free fall into the ocean.

posted 10-13-2020 05:23 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
...do you have additional information about the content in this book?

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For starters, Challenger did not "explode." At 73 seconds into the ascent the shuttle stack was hurtling through the atmosphere at high speed, with tremendous wind force acting upon it. The instant the trajectory changed as the fuel tank erupted, with Challenger swivelling sideways, it was literally torn apart. At that altitude, with no breathable oxygen, and even if by some unlikely miracle a crew member or two did survive, they would have passed out in moments from the effects of hypoxia. So no calm, two minute crew communications as they fell down towards the ocean.

The author also talks about a fire aboard Challenger. What fire?

As to this alleged continuation of communications, I actually read this so-called "transcript" probably about 20 years ago, and I'm sure many of the more senior members of this forum will remember this appalling piece of fiction when it came out and was quickly recognised as a complete and unworthy fabrication. I may be wrong, but I'm almost certain this author has come across that long-ago "transcript" and accepted it as fact. That was my first impression as it sounds all too familiar.

Let me just add that I have checked and the author is no spaceflight historian. Yes, he has written and illustrated several books, but mostly about baseball. So the question remains, how would someone with no recognised or applicable background gain access to one of the most secretive, so-called guarded and explosive revelations in spaceflight history?

posted 10-13-2020 06:42 PM               

I would also not be surprised if the book is not as sensational as the promo makes it out to be. If I had to guess, the details about what happened inside the cabin after the vehicle broke apart might be based on the status of the crew's personal egress air packs and the switches on the pilot side of the flight deck. These are not new details to those in the space community who have sought them out, but might be considered "new" to the general public.

posted 05-23-2022 11:30 AM               

Although the subtitle of course mentions Christa, it does cover the other crewmembers and their families. Christa's widower was interviewed for the book, but strangely Barbara Morgan, her backup, disappears from the narrative after the accident and is never mentioned for the rest of the book, interviewed or even quoted in another source. No mention is even made that she joined NASA's astronaut corps and went into space.

posted 02-15-2023 02:17 PM               

2022 Eugene M. Emme Award Winner Announcement

The American Astronautical Society's annual Eugene M. Emme Astronautical Literature Award, named after NASA's first historian, recognizes outstanding books and literature that advances the public's understanding of astronautics. This award commends originality, scholarship, and readability.

AAS is proud to present the winner of the 2022 Emme Award to Kevin Cook for his work, "The Burning Blue: The Untold Story of Christa McAuliffe and NASA's Challenger Disaster."

This book, published in 2021, places the legacy of the Challenger mission into a nuanced context by examining the six other astronauts while keeping Christa McAuliffe at the core. Based on meticulous research, Cook delivers a hard-hitting piece that will shift the public's perspective on the tragedy that took the life of a remarkable high school teacher and her fellow crewmates.

AAS recognizes Kevin Cook for his ability to capture the devastating realities of the 1986 Challenger disaster with great respect. The power in his writing is to be admired, and thus we are pleased to present him this award.