I read quite a few accident investigation reports, usually by NTSB as they are available online for free. I enjoy the forensic analysis of events that lead to a conclusion. I don't usually add them to my Goodreads list. I'm making an exception with this one though. Why? Because this report made me cry. After reading the background information, I'm surprised this kind of catastrophic incident took so long to occur. The thing that struck me the most though, was that they knew something terrible was liable to happen. An email between NASA officials actually states, "Any more activity today on the tile damage or are people just relegated to crossing their fingers and hoping for the best?"

The more I read of the report, the more I kept thinking, "Those poor people." There were so many missed opportunities to identify and do something about the damage, but all went unheeded or was dismissed. Yes, NASA was under budget constraints with reduced funding year after year. Yes, they were being asked to do more with less. Yes, there was competition from other agencies. Yes, management was a pile of spaghetti. Yes, they knew that foam strikes occurred in 80% of missions that were able to be visually studied. It was like the dirty little secret everyone knew about but hoped would never cause any real problem. You can't be complacent with people's lives. It's horrible to think about.

This report is a full in depth analysis of the history, lead up, occurrence and aftermath of the Columbia disaster. I refuse to call it an accident, because the cause was a known hazard. People always say we should learn from incidents like this. I suppose NASA eventually did, by shutting down the shuttle programme and is now returning to manned vehicles atop rocket boosters with a crew recovery system. The shuttle programme never reached its design potential anyway.

I would recommend this report if you are interested in getting your information from the source rather than relying on documentaries, blogs or Youtube videos by conspiracy nuts that are subject to bias or do not tell the whole story. This has everything from radio communication transcripts, emails, photo evidence, calculations, reconstructive analysis etc. Very interesting, very sad, and it will quite possibly make you very angry. ( )