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Notes -
So, what are you reading?
Still on a bunch of things. Trying Durant's The Story of Philosophy again.
I finished Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space, and man this was a good book. It reminded me a bit of Into Thin Air in how, as doomsday approached, the author got right down to minute-by-minute conversations and events. The Space Shuttle program was fraught with danger throughout the lifespan of the program. There were multiple components in the Space Shuttle that engineers estimated would fail maybe once every thirty flights. And some of these components, if they failed, would lead to immediate death for the crew. Flying in a Space Shuttle was nothing like flying in a plane - there was significant risk that the Space Shuttle launch would fail.
It is also wild how precisely the engineers of Morton-Thiokol nailed the risk of the solid rocket booster o-rings failing in cold weather. They literally predicted it the night before the launch and attempted to cancel the launch. Thiokol had multiple last minute meetings with NASA literally the night before launch arguing against launching the Space Shuttle because of the risk of the o-rings failing. And their predictions came 100% true the next morning. Just a wild story.
If you have any interest in engineering disasters or NASA in general this book is a must-read.
Now I'm onto Interpreter of Maladies. Want to knock out a quick fiction book before diving into The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power.
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