Beside The Launch Pad: Eyewitness to the Space Shuttle Challenger 51L Disaster

“Let’s face it; space is a risky business. I always considered every launch a barely controlled explosion.” — Aaron Cohen, NASA.It was 28 degrees on that fateful day in January of 1986 at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. I was very fortunate to have been selected to be part of a small team of engineers to work at pad 39B for the Space Shuttle Challenger 51 L launch. We were allowed the closest access to the launch pad. This is my personal account of the before and after of what was the first in air disaster of America’s Space Program. The photo you see on the front cover of the book is the actual photograph I took just seconds after the explosion. NASA confiscated my camera and developed the film. (Fast Short Read, No Fluff).