On January 28, 1986, just seventy-three seconds into flight, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven people on board. Millions of Americans witnessed the tragic deaths of the crew, which included New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. Like the assassination of JFK, the Challenger disaster is a defining moment in twentieth-century history -- one that forever changed the way America thought of itself and its optimistic view of the future. Yet the full story of what happened, and why, has never been told. Based on extensive archival research and metic­ulous, original reporting, Challenger : A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space follows a handful of central protagonists -- including each of the seven members of the doomed crew -- through the years leading up to the accident, and offers a detailed account of the tragedy itself and the inves­tigation afterward.

Fire on Pad 34 -- Whitey on the Moon -- The spaceplane -- The most complicated machine in history -- The future black spaceman -- The FNGs -- Never a straight answer -- The great tile caper -- When thoughts turn inward -- The first American woman in space -- The squeeze -- The black cat -- The human satellite -- Acceptable risk -- The teachernauts -- Abort to orbit -- The mystery of Hanger AF -- The back gate -- The ultimate field trip -- Friday, January 10, 1986: 7:00 a.m. -- Monday, January 27, 1986: 8:00 a.m. -- Monday, January 27, 1986: 7:55 p.m. -- Tuesday, January 28, 1986: 2:00 a.m. -- Tuesday, January 28, 1986: 11:28 a.m. -- The commission -- The truth -- Apocalypse -- The long fall.