{"product_id":"book-k0s4","title":"Challenger and Columbia: The History of the Space Shuttles that Suffered Deadly Disasters","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the decades after the Apollo program, American space shuttles flew over 130 missions and successfully completed over 98% of them, but unfortunately, the two most famous missions were the ones that ended tragically aboard the \u003cem\u003eChallenger \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eColumbia\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Space Shuttle \u003cem\u003eChallenger\u003c\/em\u003e was the most heavily used space shuttle in the three years it was operational, carrying the first minority astronaut and woman astronaut into space. \u003cem\u003eChallenger\u003c\/em\u003e was also the first space shuttle to complete a landing at night.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn the morning of January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle \u003cem\u003eChallenger\u003c\/em\u003e launched for the 10th time, beginning mission STS-51-L. Space shuttles had already successfully completed 24 missions, and no American spacecraft had ever failed to reach orbit during an official mission. On this mission, the \u003cem\u003eChallenger\u003c\/em\u003e was carrying a satellite for the Tracking and Data Relay Satellites system, which was to be deployed in orbit. Ascent seemed to be going normally during the first minute, but about 75 seconds into the ascent, a plastic O-ring used to seal a joint in one of the solid rocket boosters failed, causing a breach of hot gas. That gas spread to the other rocket booster and the external fuel tank, causing an explosion. When the spectators saw the explosion, many of them started cheering, unaware of what was really happening. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe notorious date of the \u003cem\u003eChallenger \u003c\/em\u003edisaster was commemorated by the crew of the \u003cem\u003eColumbia \u003c\/em\u003ewhile they were in space in 2003, and a few days later, on February 1, the \u003cem\u003eColumbia\u003c\/em\u003e was due to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 09:16. Only a few members of the press were present to watch the landing - this was, after all, supposed to be a routine return from a routine mission, the 113th for the shuttle program and the 28th for \u003cem\u003eColumbia\u003c\/em\u003e, one of the oldest Space Shuttles.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Findaway World, LLC","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49397238300976,"sku":"BDk0s4","price":7.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/665590-k0s4-Square.jpg?v=1735459085","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-k0s4","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}