Challenger Accident: The Tragedy of Space Shuttle Flight 51-L and its Aftermath [CD-ROM]

World Spaceflight News (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 12, 2000

This definitive electronic book presents the most complete collection of documents available anywhere on the planned flight of mission 51-L, the tragic accident and its investigation, and the recovery of the program leading to the resumption of flight with STS-26. Thirty-seven documents (over 600 megabytes) provide nearly 2700 pages of invaluable reference and research material. Thirty of these documents are made available here for the first time. Of particular note, we have the first full reproduction of the entire Rogers Commission report, with 25 full-color photo pages, 27 illustrations and line drawings, 19 charts, and 17 tables. (It is our understanding that only the text of the Rogers report is available on the web - we've been unable to find any reproduction of the full report.) We also have Volume II and III "appendix" material with extremely detailed information, including the Accident Analysis Team Report, Feynman Comments, O-ring Problem History, and the Search/Recovery/Reconstruction Report (with a complete list of all recovered pieces). The 493-page NASA Crew Egress and Escape Study, produced by JSC after the accident, provides extraordinary details about Shuttle abort and emergency concepts, with an exhaustive review of every proposed option.

Adding a special perspective to the crisis, our news and editorial coverage is represented by twelve issues of World Spaceflight News - from our pre-flight 51-L guide, through the accident investigation, to the redesign of the SRM and the return to flight. Over 200 images (covering pre-flight training, launch day, investigation and memorial service) have been assembled into our exclusive PDF-format Image Gallery. Each image is also provided in its original format. For a complete list of all the documents on this CD-ROM, see the "table of contents" link.

Please keep in mind that since these are reproductions of original documents, they contain occasional minor flaws and some pages with small text may require magnification using Acrobat's zoom function to be read on-screen. Overall, however, the reproductions are clear and sharp.

The documents are reproduced using Adobe Acrobat PDF software - allowing direct viewing on Windows 95/98, Windows 3.1, NT, and Apple Macintosh systems. Reader software is included on the CD.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

World Spaceflight News: Space enthusiasts with a mission!

We wanted to take this opportunity to provide some background about World Spaceflight News (WSN) and the American Space Encyclopedia series of CD-ROM electronic books available here at Amazon.com. In addition to our flagship publication, our coverage of spaceflight and the Space Shuttle includes printed and electronic Special Reports and NASA videos, and the American Space Encyclopedia series of CD-ROMs. We've been space fans since the dawn of the Space Age, providing news coverage - accredited by NASA - since 1983. At WSN, our mission is simple: provide space enthusiasts and professionals around the globe with unique technical information and historical material about spaceflight. We hope that a better appreciation of the complexities and challenges posed by space exploration will foster increased support for man's continued voyage into space. Our love of spaceflight drives our publishing efforts, and we've been gratified over the years that readers from Austria to Australia have found great value in our work. We try to satisfy a wide range of interests by producing a broad selection of high-quality products with exclusive material not found elsewhere. With the introduction of our ever-expanding line of CD-ROM books, we are at the cutting edge of another innovation on the digital frontier, the new world of electronic publishing. The American Space Encyclopedia series is an important original concept allowing the inexpensive distribution of thousands of pages of material that otherwise would remain locked away in dusty archives or hidden on the shelves of NASA engineers.

PUTTING CONTENT FIRST - These CDs are not flashy multimedia presentations from a Hollywood studio or video game producer. Rather, as the name "encyclopedia" implies, they are collections of documents and images in the popular and highly effective Adobe Acrobat PDF format. The discs contain accurate and faithful reproductions of real NASA documents; there is no interface on the planet that will make these authentic documents more interesting or their presentation more interactive! On many discs, we've supplemented the document collection with our ground-breaking "image gallery" concept. This exclusive feature gathers hundreds of NASA images into one PDF file, allowing the reader to flip through the pictures in the same way you would look through a photo album. The PDF image conversion process provides a user-friendly format that is far more convenient than a simple collection of image files.

COMMITMENT TO PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATION - Many hours of hard work go into every CD-ROM - from concept development, research, data gathering, and information requests, to scanning, importing, formatting, and file preparation. Our extensive knowledge and experience helps us identify the most interesting material for each subject.

UNIQUE MATERIAL NOT AVAILABLE ON THE WEB - Every CD-ROM includes material not found on NASA websites, much of it from our own collection of documents. Many of the documents are presented for the first time anywhere! In order to provide comprehensive coverage, some discs also include additional website material, most of which has been converted by WSN into PDF format from cumbersome and time-consuming download files.

USER-FRIENDLY INTERFACE PROVIDES DIRECT ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS - The "Table of Contents and File Navigator" correlates each title with the appropriate file name - there is no confusion associating files with document titles. (Short file names are used for compatibility with older operating systems.) Like a web page, simply clicking on the hyperlinked document name takes you directly to the cover page of the document. Extensive experience has demonstrated that this is the best interface for these PDF files.

HIGH-QUALITY CD DUPLICATION - We use an in-house special-purpose CD duplicator which utilizes blank CD-R discs. This system allows us to modify and update our titles on short notice. In the unlikely event that there is a problem with one of our discs, rest assured that we will promptly replace any defective CD. By the way, published reports indicate that CD-R discs have an estimated lifetime of 100 years, compared to the much shorter life of mass-produced factory-stamped CDs.

We thank you for this chance to explain why we are so proud of our work here at World Spaceflight News!

About the Author

World Spaceflight News has covered spaceflight and the Space Shuttle program since 1983. In addition to our flagship publication, we produce printed and electronic Special Reports and NASA videos. Our "American Space Encyclopedia" CD-ROM series provides exclusive coverage of many spaceflight topics.

Product Details

• CD-ROM: 2668 pages
• Publisher: Progressive Management; 1 edition (June 12, 2000)
• ISBN-10: 1893472108
• ISBN-13: 978-1893472105
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,289,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great source of material on the Challenger accident, August 29, 2001

By 

Kenneth F. Schoeni "Golden Bear of the Rockies" (Longmont, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Challenger Accident: The Tragedy of Space Shuttle Flight 51-L and its Aftermath (CD-ROM)

Challenger Accident is the best single research source I've found. This electronic book is easy to use and very thourgh in the material that was produced from the investingation of the loss of mission 51-L. A great value for the price!