Space Shuttle Challenger: Ten Journeys into the Unknown

This book, which will complement Ben Evans previous work: Space Shuttle Columbia Her Missions and Crews, is designed to cast minds back to a time when the Shuttle was truly the future: untarnished by disaster and bolstered by apparent success. It was a time when astronauts confidently expected to fly seven, eight or nine missions in their careers, when missions would be launched twice a month, when virtually anybody could travel into space and the fabled final frontier was drawing inexorably closer as each year passed. The book will tell the stories of Challengers missions from the points of view of the astronauts, engineers and scientists who flew and knew her and the managers, technicians and ground personnel who designed her and nursed her from humble beginnings as a structural test article into one of the most capable Shuttles in NASAs service.

It will combine technical esoterica with interviews, stories and anecdotes from the lifetime of this remarkable spacecraft. Challenger veterans, including Gordon Fullerton and Vance Brand, will describe their experiences and the differences between Challenger and her sister ships. The development of Challenger herself will be explored in detail, including her design, development, construction and preparation for missions.