Columbia

A Modest Mission.- A Modest Mission.- Mission Makers.- Rick Husband: The Boy from Amarillo.- Willie McCool: Running Man.- Dave Brown: Pilot, Doctor, Gymnast.- Kalpana Chawla: The Girl from India.- Mike Anderson: The Kid Who Wanted to Fly.- Laurel Clark: Submarine Doctor, Mother.- Ilan Ramon: Israel's First Space Traveler.- Dodging Bullets: The Astronauts Who Weren't Selected.- It Isn't Just the Astronauts.- The Long Road to Launch.- A NASA Primer.- The Eighteen Delays.- Training for the Mission.- Presenting NASA to the World.- Prequel: STS-112 and STS-113.- Preparing for Launch.- Launch Day.- Behind the Scenes.- Living in Space.- Sixteen Days in Space.- Flight Day 2: MEIDEX, Phab4, ARMS, Ascent Video.- Flight Day 3: Calcium Kinetics, Press Interviews.- Flight Day 4: LSP, Spacehab Problems.- Flight Day 5: VCD, MPFE.- Flight Day 6: Ariel Sharon Call, Internet Questions.- Flight Day 7: MGM, Astroculture.- Flight Day 8: SOFBALL, CIBX.- Flight Day 9: S*T*A*R*S, FREESTAR.- Flight Day 10: BDS, BRIC, OSTEO.- Flight Day 11: ZCG, Biopack.- Flight Day 12: Ship-to-Ship Call, FRESH.- Flight Day 13: Mist, Biotube, Challenger Anniversary.- Flight Day 14: Press Conference.- Flight Day 15: MEIDEX, External Spacehab Payloads.- Flight Day 16: Automated Payloads, Preparing to Come Home.- February 1, 2003.- Reentry.- The Accident.- Mission Control on Landing Day.- What Should Have Happened.- The Media's Coverage of STS-107.- The First Hours After the Accident.- Viewing Columbia's Reentry.- Where Were You ...?.- The Public's Reaction.- Aftermath.- The Search for Debris.- Other Evidence.- Completing the Investigation.- Kooks and Myths.- Was a Rescue Possible?.- Memorials.- Legacy: The Science Not Lost.

Philip Chien is a full-time space journalist. Over the last twenty years, he has covered over a hundred Shuttle launches. His reports have appeared on CNN, in Popular Science, Time and in the Jerusalem Post, among other venues.

From the reviews:

In terms of explaining the mission itself, Columbia-Final Voyage is unparalleled, and unlikely to be equaled[.]

-Jeff Foust, The Space Review, February 20, 2006

 

The research, when combined with interviews with family, colleagues and scientists, results in what may be the most detailed account that will ever be written about what happened in space during the mission.

-John Kelly, Florida Today: Space & Science, February 15, 2006

"Philip Chien in his book Columbia Final Voyage brings a comprehensive, personal, view of the most recent shuttle disaster. ... Chien's review provides plenty of interest ... . Included are the experiments, with the identities and expectations of the principal investigators. ... In total, he's produced a warm memorial both for the people and the mission. ... the book is an excellent source for someone wanting to relieve this mission or to reflect on the nature of the people involved or on people in general." (Mark Mortimer, Universe Today, April, 2006)