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 Space shuttle Challenger author John Maxson founded
Homestead Books on Christian faith. It was located in northern Iowa,
where early settlers lived by a code which embodied common decency,
a sense of fair play, and a demand for justice. Their space-pioneering
descendants lived by that same code, as they steadily and resourcefully
worked to make John F. Kennedy's vision a stunning reality. Despite
their efforts, Homestead Books was a small business operating at a loss.
After seven years devoted to Challenger, Homestead Books finally closed
its doors, in mid-2007. The pages of this website serve as a reminder.
President
Reagan reacted harshly to the peaceful use of men in space. He attempted
to militarize NASA. Soon the Challenger explosion shocked the nation. The
needless tragedy was followed by a well planned cover-up (see
Plot).
In a disturbing view from NASA-impounded UPI film, inboard
black smoke is visible against the nearly luminous background of the
hydrogen tank's aft dome. Such smoke conflicts with the official account
of outboard-only "O-ring puffs." The San Francisco Chronicle did not
publish this press photo until February 14, 1986. It is shown here at
Challenger Lift-Off (see red and yellow arrows).
Challenger's Ghost
The dream of
further space exploration almost died during the nearly three years when
no shuttles flew. Through Iowa's John Maxson (a former Lockheed engineer)
embers of truth survived Reagan's blanket of disinformation over
Mission 51-L. Mr. Maxson was well qualified to write about the space
shuttle Challenger disaster, having attempted to stop the Challenger
launch while coordinating unfinished launch-facility work at Kennedy Space
Center. He took the time to report the looming catastrophe in writing, to
the U. S. Senate. Ten years later, a leading newspaper labeled him
"Challenger's Ghost."
For a
prelaunch whistleblower who unselfishly tried to prevent the Challenger
space shuttle tragedy at Launch Pad B, Mr. Maxson has been undeservedly
afforded an extraordinarily low profile. Several weeks in advance, John Maxson
diligently gave the Senate several technical warnings (many in writing).
Despite these phone calls and solicited prelaunch reports, he quickly
became the object of ruinous employment retaliation by Lockheed. Mr.
Maxson had previously received commendations from this employer.
John Maxson
received his Bachelors Degree in Mathematics from San Jose State, and he
has several advanced courses to his engineering credit. Despite personal
attacks, Mr. Maxson courageously published his astonishing insight into
the space shuttle Challenger cover-up. Convincingly, he showed us that
justice was not served when a presidential report officially titled an
intentionally delinquent 51-L launch as the Space Shuttle Challenger
Accident.
See
Beyond the Bunk
for some insightful Maxson commentary on 'Challenger's Terminal Timeline.'
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