Published 1:12 pm Saturday, August 10, 2024 By Guest Columnist This column was submitted by Evangeline Cessna, Local History Librarian at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library. This week the library is featuring new titles in our Adult Nonfiction collection. “Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space,” by Adam Higginbotham examines the space shuttle Challenger disaster that took place on January 28, 1986.
The author follows a handful of players in this saga, including all seven of the doomed crew members, from the years leading up to the shuttle break-up through the actual tragedy and the investigation that followed. Higginbotham details the ambition and ingenuity undermined by political cynicism and the cost-cutting done to bolster national esteem. The investigation was driven by the leakers and whistleblowers determined to bring the truth to light.
There were ominous warning signs that were recognized but then ignored and later hidden from the public. This is a history of the shuttle program and the lives of men and women whose stories were overshadowed by the disaster, as well as the designers, engineers and test pilots who struggled against all odds to get the first shuttle into space. “The Master Plan,” is by Chris Wilson.
The author grew up in Washington, D.C. surrounded by violence and despair and watched his family suffer trauma causing him to lose his faith.
One night, when he was seventeen, Wilson killed a man while defending.