Items related to Challenger: A Major Malfunction
Recounts the Challenger tragedy, describes how politics has influenced the space program, and reexamines the decision to launch
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From Library Journal:
The rush to publish first-anniversary accounts of the Challenger disaster has produced two books that would have profited from more careful editing. Both examine the now familiar administrative shortcomings that placed launch schedule pressures ahead of flight safety. Trento takes the long view, examining NASA's management from its inception, the glory days of Apollo, and finally the shuttle era, when, in his view, politics overwhelmed sound engineering judgment. He makes good use of interviews with every past NASA administrator as well as with Apollo and Shuttle managers to detail the administrative drift and budgetary pressures that allowed political considerations to gain ascendancy in staffing the agency and, more importantly, in making program and technological decisions. Unfortunately factual errors regarding program names, technical details, dates, and misspelled names mar his account. McConnell focuses more on the particulars of the doomed mission. In New Journalism style, he attempts to reconstruct the details of the decision to launch. He draws heavily on Rogers Commission testimony for much of his narrative. However, some undocumented assertions (e.g., that tensions existed among the Challenger crew because the non-pilots were brought into the program for "political considerations" demand substantiation. The two accounts share complementary flawsTrento's access to first-hand sources is countered by factual inaccuracies; McConnell's detailed reconstruction of events and conversations, in addition to the insinuations of irregularities in Shuttle contract awards, lack proper documentation. Neither book provides the last word on the disaster; however, of the two, Trento's political examination of NASA's decline makes it the better choice. Thomas J. Frieling, Bainbridge Junior Coll. Lib., Ga.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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- PublisherDoubleday & Company
- Publication date1987
- ISBN 10 067165439X
- ISBN 13 9780671654399
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages269
- IllustratorIllus. With Photos
- Rating
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Challenger: A Major Malfunction
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Doubleday & Company
(1987)
ISBN 10: 067165439X
ISBN 13: 9780671654399
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Book Description Hardback. Condition: Good. Illus. With Photos (illustrator). The book has been read but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact and the cover is intact. Some minor wear to the spine. Seller Inventory # GOR005808376
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Challenger: A Major Malfunction
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(1987)
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Book Description Condition: Good. Illus. With Photos (illustrator). Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. A copy that has been read but remains in clean condition. All of the pages are intact and the cover is intact and the spine may show signs of wear. The book may have minor markings which are not specifically mentioned. A tan to the pages. Seller Inventory # wbs3974018558
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Challenger: A Major Malfunction
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Simon and Schuster
(1987)
ISBN 10: 067165439X
ISBN 13: 9780671654399
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Book Description Condition: Fair. Illus. With Photos (illustrator). This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside.This book has hardback covers. In fair condition, suitable as a study copy. Dust jacket in good condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item,650grams, ISBN:9780671654399. Seller Inventory # 9357795
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Challenger: A Major Malfunction
Published by
Simon and Schuster
(1987)
ISBN 10: 067165439X
ISBN 13: 9780671654399
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Book Description Condition: Fair. Illus. With Photos (illustrator). This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside.This book has hardback covers. In fair condition, suitable as a study copy. Dust jacket in good condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item,700grams, ISBN:9780671654399. Seller Inventory # 9265056
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Challenger : A Major Malfunction
Published by
Simon Schuster
(1987)
ISBN 10: 067165439X
ISBN 13: 9780671654399
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Illus. With Photos (illustrator). 1987 Simon Schuster first UK edition hardback; Very Good, lightly shelf-aged to top edge but clean inside copy, with Very Good unclipped dj; UK dealer, immediate dispatch. Seller Inventory # 14220
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Challenger: A Major Malfunction
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ISBN 13: 9780671654399
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. Illus. With Photos (illustrator). 1st Edition. A tight, clean and unmarked copy- " Published in 1987 just a year after the "Challenger" accident, this book by journalist Malcolm McConnell explores what was then known about the events leading up to the decision to launch the shuttle on January 28, 1986. Stressing the immediate causes of the accident, McConnell highlighted the pressures to launch, the objections of engineers, and the internal debates on the subject. He argued that NASA leaders caused the disaster by pressing operations officials to launch when they did so that President Ronald Reagan could mention it in that evening's scheduled State of the Union Address. Of course, this was the mission that would have as a crewmember Christa McAullife, the teach in space who had a special lesson from orbit planned for millions of school children.". Seller Inventory # 010401
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