Apollo 1 and the Space Shuttle Challenger: The History of NASA's Two Most Notorious Disasters

*Includes pictures*Includes accounts of the disasters and government reports about them*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading*Includes a table of contentsThe Apollo space program is the most famous and celebrated in American history, but the first successful landing of men on the Moon during Apollo 11 had complicated roots dating back over a decade, and it also involved one of NASA’s most infamous tragedies. Landing on the Moon presented an ideal goal all on its own, but the government’s urgency in designing the Apollo program was actually brought about by the Soviet Union, which spent much of the 1950s leaving the United States in its dust (and rocket fuel). In 1957, at a time when people were concerned about communism and nuclear war, many Americans were dismayed by news that the Soviet Union was successfully launching satellites into orbit.On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy addressed Congress and asked the nation to “commit itself to achieving the