The first book to extensively cover the immediate and long-term aftermath of the 2003 Columbia disaster, a shared national disaster that had a significant impact on space missions and the shuttle program.
Written by the launch director of the mission (the guy who said “go”), the book has an insider’s perspective from someone who was there and involved both in mission planning and execution, but who was also heavily involved in directing response efforts.
As launch director and director of recovery efforts, Mike Leinbach has extensive media and press conference experience; contacts with NBC, CBS, AP, and others.
An in-depth account of the monumental post-explosion search (the largest search-and-recovery operation in US history) where 25,000 searchers and millions of dollars were involved in combing through rough terrain over an area the size of Rhode Island for every single bit of the shuttle and her crew they could find.
Includes incredible human stories, such as someone finding and returning the watch a technician gave one of the astronauts while they were dating, and the amazing support provided to NASA and the searchers by the local community.
Will have a foreword and epilogue by astronauts Robert Crippen and Eileen Collins
