You won't find this one in the paperback section of your local supermarket.

Drier than the Mojave Desert, the "Report to the President by the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident" of June 6th, 1986, describes the findings of an investigation into the causes for the structural failure of the Challenger.

Remembered more casually as the "Rogers Commission Report," after the Commission Chairman, William P. Rogers, it is a document drafted by a committee appointed to investigate the causes of the Challenger Disaster.

It exposes a series of engineering flaws and organizational faults on the part of NASA, including a description of deficient "o-rings" that failed to operate properly during launch, setting off a chain reaction of malfunctions that collectively led to the destruction of the Challenger. It also leaves no NASA employee or contractor unaccountable for the breakdown.

The report ends with a list of safety improvements that required NASA to get it together. It also demands that certain key parties involved with the Challenger mission take responsibility for their failures.

Crammed with technical details, the Rogers Commission Report is an up-close look at the government's response to the Challenger Disaster. It might not be on the bestseller list, but it's fascinating nonetheless...if you're into that kind of thing.