Columbia Accident Investigation Report: Apogee Books Space Series 39 [Paperback]

Robert Godwin (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Apogee Books Space Series | Publication Date: October 1, 2003

Includes all of the details of the Gehman Report, the official accident report, on the Space Shuttle Columbia's final flight.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...It is always difficult... to present a balanced but informative and questioning account of a setback. With this in mind Godwin has chosen the correct route..." -- Dave Shayler, Spaceflight, April 2004. "...eminently readable and while naturally technical at times, I was able to fully undersand and comprehend everything very clearly - undoubtedly its aim." -- Robin Flegg, Astronomy Now, July 2004. "The most valuable single source of information about the shuttle programme ever made available in the public domain...a treasure trove for anyone interested in space technology and the history and evolution of human spaceflight." - The Observatory, April 2005. Also reviewed in Telescopium, Journal of the Swedish Astonomical Society.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Collector's Guide Publishing, Inc. (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 189495906X
• ISBN-13: 978-1894959063
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,979,225 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is better than the Government copy, December 21, 2003

By 

Spaceboss "importcdboss" (Chicago IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Columbia Accident Investigation Report: Apogee Books Space Series 39 (Paperback)

I just got through this book. It's actually a very easy and interesting read, not the technical document you'd expect. There is a lot of history about the Shuttle program as well as some excellent photos I haven't seen before.
Where this book excels over the government copy (which is about twice the price of this one)is that it includes the interview immediately after the review was released with Mr. Sean O'Keefe, so you get to hear his opinions also. (Not included in the Govt issue)
Also as usual where Apogee excels is with the bonus CD Rom. It contains the full 700 page Return To Flight documents which NASA has prepared recently as well as some great video from the STS 107 mission itself. I really agree with their advertising now that Apogee IS THE Space Book Company.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive, readable, and nicely illustrated, June 22, 2004

By 

magellan (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Columbia Accident Investigation Report: Apogee Books Space Series 39 (Paperback)

Although not cheap, this book offers a lot of value for the price. The bonus CD which includes many extra NASA documents as well as over 100 MB of video is also worth much of the purchase price.

The book is divided into two main parts. The first part discusses the technical investigation and the engineering analysis which determined the exact cause of failure. This was traced to a piece of insulating foam striking the right leading wing edge during the ascent, damaging the heat-resistant tiles and leading to a fatal thermal failure during reentry. In addition to the more narrow focus of finding the cause of the wing failure, you'll learn a lot of other interesting details about many other aspects of the shuttle design and engineering.

It's interesting to follow the chain of discovery and logic that led up to this conclusion about the wing failure, but the kicker was a sensor in the right wing that read a very high temperature before suddenly dropping to a suspiciously low one. This led investigators to conclude that the low temperature simply meant that the sensor had been destroyed by high heat moments before the Shuttle broke apart, but this interpretation wasn't arrived at until after the investigation. Even if they'd known at the time, there wasn't much that could have been done about it.

The book is surprisingly well illustrated with many color graphics, illustrations, and photos. The thermal diagrams showing the temperature variations in various colors are almost works of art by themselves. Although there's some technical jargon in the first part, overall, the book isn't difficult to read with a little perseverance, even if you're not technically inclined or an engineer yourself.

The last half of the book discusses the organizational aspects and political environment of NASA on which the shuttle disaster is ultimately blamed. The book details the numerous missed opportunities, procedural failures, and beaurocratic screw-ups that let up to the final disaster. There's some good history here about NASA and about some of the leading scientists and engineers and managers who were involved with the agency during these years, which makes interesting reading just by itself.

Last but not least, the book is printed on very high quality, glossy paper which makes the colorful illustrations even more attractive. Far from being just another government study of another failed beaurocracy, this book should be read by any manager in big business, semi-governmental agency, or government department or agency for the valuable lessons that were learned.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read the book!, March 23, 2004

By 

"aftercolumbia" (Calgary AB) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Columbia Accident Investigation Report: Apogee Books Space Series 39 (Paperback)

I haven't actually read the Apogee edition, but I do have my own copy of the government edition, listened to the release press conference live, and again twice from the www.caib.us archive. I have burnt all the appendices and that one 203MB press briefing, so it's safe to say that I've read everything that's in the Apogee edition, even if not in the same set of covers.

Most of what's in the first part will go over most peoples' heads. The second part "Part II" has the gold. Part II shows exactly what political dynamics prevented the foam problem from being addressed, how well-intentioned culture and internal politics can break down. I've worked for many companies, and what I saw in Part II of the CAIB Report is by far the best, yet it still killed fourteen astronauts.

Anybody who runs his own business, is a supervisor at one, a director, manager, leader or aspiring leader in any capacity should read Part II of the Columbia Accident Investigation Report.