63 pages • 2 hours read
Adam HigginbothamChallenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space
Adam HigginbothamNonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Key Figures
NASA’s Johnson Space Center
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.
The heart and brain of NASA’s space shuttle operation resided at the Johnson Space Center near Houston, Texas. It was there that astronauts underwent training and learned to perform the tasks they would carry out while in orbit. The Center was the location of the command center from which NASA provided instructions to the flight crew during launch and communicated with them during orbit, thus providing a significant link to Earth while the crew was in space.
Director of Flight Operations George Abbey played a central role in NASA’s operations and came to be well-known to all personnel. Each would-be astronaut set out to make a good impression on him during the interview process and then to earn his respect and praise as their expertise increased. He demanded hard work and held high standards for the astronauts, but he cared about each of his team as individuals. As the crew prepared for launch, Abbey was the liaison between NASA and the astronauts’ family members, who came to rely on him as a source of wisdom and trusted his expertise. After the Challenger disaster, Abbey carried a great deal of guilt and grief at the loss of his friends.
Also essential to the Space Center was Head of Engineering and Development Max Faget, who envisioned and designed the reusable space shuttle. Faget was elated to see his vision become a reality. Steve Nesbitt, public affairs officer and chief commentator, was the external face of NASA, serving as the liaison to the public. A key aspect of his job was to provide public commentary on the shuttle launches for live broadcasts, which required translating the technical jargon into accessible language for the public. Importantly, it was Nesbit who faced the difficult necessity of commenting on the tragedy of the Challenger as it unfolded in real time. In doing so, he was careful to respond with sensitivity and maintain professionalism, refusing to convey any misinformation or speculation.
Marshall Space Flight Center
Located in Huntsville, Alabama, the Marshall Center is the heart of the design and development of NASA space shuttles and other space vehicles. It was NASA’s first facility and the place where President Kennedy’s vision of the moon landing first became a reality. Under the guidance of Center Director Wernher von Braun, who held the position from 1960 to 1970, the Center’s rocket engineering brought Americans to the moon and constructed the Lunar Roving vehicle that explored the moon (Ridgeway, Beth. “A Brief History of Marshall Space Flight Center.” NASA, 26 Aug. 2024).
Thiokol voiced its concerns about the O-rings to personnel at Marshall. Larry Mulloy, project manager for the space shuttle solid rocket boosters, came under particular scrutiny after the Challenger explosion. Mulloy, in the teleconference with Thiokol on the night of January 27, was adamant that NASA stick to its launch schedule and avoid further delays. Frustrated by the setbacks that had already occurred, Mulloy emphasized the financial cost in continuing to delay the flight. Though he and others at Marshall had repeatedly been made aware of the dangers of the O-rings, they would try to downplay this—or shift the blame back to Thiokol—during the initial hearings of the Commission.
Morton Thiokol
Located in Utah, Thiokol was contracted to manufacture the solid rocket boosters that were essential to launch the shuttles into space. Its engineers were also tasked with assessing the various components after they were retrieved upon completion of launch. It was Thiokol personnel—specifically engineer Roger Boisjoly—who discovered that the erosion problems of the O-rings were worsened by cold temperatures, causing them to fail.
Boisjoly was committed to finding a safer and more effective solution to seal the rocket joints, demonstrating his commitment to ethics and the safety of the shuttle’s flight crew. Despite his colleagues ridiculing him as an alarmist, Boisjoly persevered, gathering data to prove the O-rings’ flaws and devising solutions on his own, separate from his work.
Boisjoly became a victim of the politics that guided Thiokol’s decision-making process. Fearful of losing the contract with NASA, Senior Vice President Jerry Mason, Deputy General Manager Cal Wiggins, and Vice President of Space Rocket Booster Programs Joe Kilminster told NASA what it wanted to hear—that the solid rocket boosters were safe to launch in the cold temperatures on January 28. They convinced Vice President of Engineering Bob Lund to reverse their initial collective decision not to launch.
It was Boisjoly and Allan McDonald, the director of the Space Shuttle Sold Rocket Motor Project, who acted as whistleblowers during the federal commission’s examination of the Challenger explosion. They continually stuck to their position about the dangers of the O-rings. Both men acted bravely, knowingly risking their jobs by speaking out against their employer. Boisjoly, in particular, was tormented by feelings of guilt over the deaths of the Challenger crew. The lifelong post-traumatic stress disorder that he experienced was a testament to how seriously he took his commitment to ethics over economics.
Challenger Flight STS-51L Crew
The 25th mission of the Challenger space shuttle consisted of seven individuals: Flight Commander Dick Scobee; pilot Mike Smith; Mission Specialists Ellison Onizuka, Judy Reznik, and Ron McNair (all NASA astronauts); Payload Specialist Dick Jarvis; and civilian passenger of the “Teacher in Space” Program, Christa McAuliffe. The crew was notable for its diversity, as it included two women, one African American (McNair), and one Asian American (Onizuka).
Scobee came to NASA in 1978 after an Air Force career and, in addition to being a pilot, was also a flight instructor. He had always been deeply passionate about flying, and his ambition continuously pushed him to fly larger and faster jets. Scobee dreamed of space travel but exceeded NASA’s height cap for the small vessels. When the height requirement was lifted in 1976, he immediately applied. He was lauded for his successful retrieval of the satellite in April 1984 aboard flight STS-41C.
Smith was a former Navy pilot who completed NASA training in 1981. The Challenger mission was his first space trip. Onizuka, Reznik, and McNair had all been aboard previous shuttle missions: McNair was the second African American in space, and Reznik was the second American woman in space. McNair was a gifted musician with a PhD in laser physics, who had defied many of the racist norms of his time to join NASA. Growing up in South Carolina, he had had to work doubly hard to receive an education in the Jim Crow South. McNair became the first to play a musical instrument in space and hoped to one day broadcast a live musical performance of his saxophone from space. Onizuka was soft-spoken but highly competitive in all aspects of life, including his childhood pursuits of basketball and baseball. He was also an Eagle Scout.
Resnik, a classically trained pianist, also held diverse interests and was highly ambitious. She applied to NASA while completing her PhD in biomedical engineering, having never had any previous interest in space but always on the lookout for opportunity. Resnik never doubted that she would be chosen despite the thousands of women who applied when NASA dropped the gender restrictions. McNair, Onizuka, Resnik, and Scobee were part of the same recruited class of 1978. All seven members defied the stereotype of the scientific “nerd” and were personable and fun-loving, relishing the camaraderie of their peers.
Finally, high school teacher McAuliffe was described by many as eager, bright, friendly, and a lover of life. She was committed to her students and excited by the opportunity to go to space as a civilian. Her “girl next door” affability made her the ideal candidate to launch NASA’s plans for space travel by ordinary Americans.
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