With seven-time astronaut Jerry Ross at my side, I gave a presentation at Spacefest VIII in Tucson on June 11. It summarized the incredible story of the recovery and reconstruction of space shuttle Columbia following the February 1, 2003 accident that took the lives of her crew.
Having spent the past two years conducting nearly a hundred interviews with people ranging from the former Administrator of NASA to the women who volunteered at the Hemphill, Texas VFW Hall, I had so much I wanted to say and so little time in which to say it! Of course we could only touch on the highlights of the story and just a few of the 25,000 people who made this—the largest search and recovery operation in US history—a success. Even the book, which is due in December, will just barely be able to scratch the surface.
I recorded the presentation, and Jerry kindly consented to my posting his comments publicly. I encourage you to listen if you have an hour to spare. I hope it’ll give you a feel for the tone of the book—that this time of tragedy provided an opportunity for many Americans to rise to the call to be of service to their country in unexpected and compassionate ways. Tens of thousands of people who previously had no connection to the space program helped NASA return to flight through their tireless efforts in the spring of 2003.
The recording is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UVMy9PlhQk
On a related note, our book passed another milestone last week, as we finished our review of the copyedited manuscript. It’s one step closer to going into production this summer!