Government inefficiency and private contractors unable to do the right thing are a recipe for disaster. One of those disasters resulted in the death of seven people aboard Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986.

While I remember this tragic day, I don’t remember reading much about what caused the shuttle to explode or anything about what happened to the people who built the spacecraft or those who made the decision to fly that day.

Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space (Avid Reader Press, 2024) by Adam Higginbotham answered questions I didn’t know I had.

It is an interesting look at what people do when faced with difficult decisions. When human life is not the top priority.

This is so much more than a book about that one incident. Much of the book, which I listened to, centered on the internal workings at NASA and its affiliates leading up to this particular launch of the Challenger.

It’s a long book. Stick with it. At times it will seem full of too much information, too much about the internal workings of the shuttle, the delays, and more. Trust me, it’s all relevant.

Yes, there are parts that were excessive about some of the players, but push through.

Ultimately, all of the information coalesces to prove that the explosion was the climax of a broken system.