Comm Check... by Michael Cabbage

Comm Check... by Michael Cabbage

On February 1, 2003, the unthinkable happened. The space shuttle Columbia disintegrated 37 miles above Texas, seven brave astronauts were killed and America's space program, always an eyeblink from disaster, suffered its second catastrophic in-flight failure. Unlike the Challenger disaster 17 years earlier, Columbia's destruction left the nation one failure away from the potential abandonment of human space exploration. Media coverage in the immediate aftermath focused on the possible cause of the disaster, and on the nation's grief. But the full human story, and the shocking details of NASA's crucial mistakes, have never been told -- until now.

Based on dozens of exclusive interviews, never-before-published documents and recordings of key meetings obtained by the authors, Comm Check takes the reader inside the conference rooms and offices where NASA's best and brightest managed the nation's multi-billion-dollar shuttle program -- and where they failed to recognize the signs of an impending disaster. It is the story of a space program pushed to the brink of failure by relentless political pressure, shrinking budgets and flawed decision making. The independent investigation into the disaster uncovered why Columbia broke apart in the sky above Texas. Comm Check brings that story to life with the human drama behind the tragedy.

Michael Cabbage and William Harwood, two of America's most respected space journalists, are veterans of all but a handful of NASA's 113 shuttle missions. Tapping a network of sources and bringing a combined three decades of experience to bear, the authors provide a rare glimpse into NASA's inner circles, chronicling the agency's most devastating failure and the challenges that face NASA as it struggles to return America to space.

William R. Harwood is a scientist and author, contributor to Skeptical Inquirer, Free Inquiry, and contributing editor to the American Rationalist. He is the author of over 50 books including Mythology's Last Gods; God, Jesus and the Bible: The Origin and Evolution of Religion; Dictionary of Contemporary Mythology; The Disinformation Cycle; several novels, and the two-volume The Fully Translated Bible (ed/tr), as well as over 600 articles and book reviews for periodicals in nine countries.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781439101766
ISBN 10	1439101760
Title	Comm Check...
Author	Michael Cabbage
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Simon & Schuster
Year published	2008-05-19
Number of pages	352
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.