Voted the Best Space Book of 2018 by the Space Hipsters The dramatic inside story of the epic search and recovery operation after the Columbia space shuttle disaster. On February 1, 2003, Columbia disintegrated on reentry before the nation’s eyes, and all seven astronauts aboard were lost. Author Mike Leinbach, Launch Director of the space shuttle program at NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center was a key leader in the search and recovery effort as NASA, FEMA, the FBI, the US Forest Service, and dozens more federal, state, and local agencies combed an area of rural east Texas the size of Rhode Island for every piece of the shuttle and her crew they could find. Assisted by hundreds of volunteers, it would become the largest ground search operation in US history. This comprehensive account is told in four parts: Parallel Confusion - Courage, Compassion, and Commitment - Picking Up the Pieces - A Bittersweet Victory For the first time, here is the definitive inside story of the Columbia disaster and recovery and the inspiring message it ultimately holds. In the aftermath of tragedy, people and communities came together to help bring home the remains of the crew and nearly 40 percent of shuttle, an effort that was instrumental in piecing together what happened so the shuttle program could return to flight and complete the International Space Station. Bringing Columbia Home shares the deeply personal stories that emerged as NASA employees looked for lost colleagues and searchers overcame immense physical, logistical, and emotional challenges and worked together to accomplish the impossible. Featuring a foreword and epilogue by astronauts Robert Crippen and Eileen Collins, and dedicated to the astronauts and recovery search persons who lost their lives, this is an incredible, compelling narrative about the best of humanity in the darkest of times and about how a failure at the pinnacle of human achievement became a story of cooperation and hope. Voted the Best Space Book of 2018 by the Space Hipsters "In Bringing Columbia Home , Mike Leinbach and Jonathan Ward have vividly captured the intensity of those very difficult days. They tell the story with compassion but without pulling any punches. The book also reminded me of the spirit of the American people who selflessly worked together to help NASA in its hour of greatest need. It’s a message we all need to remember these days.— Scott Kelly “A gripping account of a fatal tragedy and the impressive and deeply emotional human response that ensued.”— Kirkus Reviews , *starred review* “Gripping and dramatic . . . It’s an important and fascinating chapter in space history, and it finally gets the full treatment it deserves. As told by someone who was involved in the effort from the beginning, it’s also a deeply personal and moving story .”— Booklist “ Fast-paced and affecting . . . It is a moving and sometimes uncomfortably close account. . . . The unadorned, multisensory narration richly depicts the emotions and everyday acts of heroism of all involved.”— Publishers Weekly “A grimly captivating new history of the loss of the space shuttle Columbia. . . . Leinbach and Ward set their account apart from other 'Columbia' books by following the story from its central tragedy to its almost unthinkably sad immediate aftermath. . . . Despite the dramatic tragedy at the beginning of the book, it's the quiet stories of perseverance and camaraderie [in the recovery effort] that will linger longest with the reader.”— Christian Science Monitor “How glowing is our praise of this book? It simply cannot be higher. This book needs to be required reading in high schools and colleges across the United States.”— Spaceflight Insider “ Bringing Columbia Home explains a disaster in the Texas skies—and how thousands on the ground helped. . . . [It] shines brightest in telling the story of the search-and-recovery effort.”— Dallas News "Riveting."— Air & Space magazine (Smithsonian) " Bringing Columbia Home is a compelling, personal story about the Columbia accident and the efforts to recover—both the debris from the shuttle, and from the accident itself. It’s a reminder that, as we look at the big-picture policy perspective of human spaceflight, it’s also a very personal matter for those who put their lives on the line to fly, and those who support them."— Space Revie w “The book Bringing Columbia Home presents vivid details of the preparation and the aftermath of that fateful day when Columbia exploded. I am so grateful that the heartwarming story of the people of East Texas rallying to help the grim search has been brought forth by Michael Leinbach and Jonathan Ward. It is a remarkable account of what a team of professionals with an untrained but willing army of volunteers could achieve.”— The Honorable Kay Bailey Hutchison, Senator for Texas, 1993-2013 “Mike and Jonathan have done a brilliant job capturing the depth