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An NYT Book Review of Higginbotham's new book Challenger mentioned that astronaut Smith "had survived the entire journey, counting down the seconds to certain death" (6/9/2024). I was curious how exactly that was determined and what it meant. Reading the Talk here about this page's section, I was thankful for @HandThatFeeds's reminder about reliable and valid sources, and to @NekoKatsun considered takes.
Your posts prompted me to dig in, and go to Higginbotham's book itself. While it's not a primary source but secondary, there's a helpful finding there.
"The volume of air remaining in Smith’s pack also revealed that someone had been breathing from the supply for around two and a half minutes: almost exactly the length of time it took for the sundered crew cabin to fall the twelve miles from its apogee to the surface of the Atlantic."(p. 439)
Higginbotham, Adam. Challenger : A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space, Simon & Schuster, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/northeastern-ebooks/detail.action?docID=30789142.
Created from northeastern-ebooks on 2024-07-21 00:20:28.
So while Slade's statement may go too far (inferring whether Smith was literally counting down seconds seems not supported), I do wonder if it would answer public curiosity to add a sentence or two, and even borrow from Slade's review. Something like this maybe:
"Recorded audio captured from a painstakingly reconstructed magnetic tape of the shuttle’s black box revealed that at least one astronaut, Mike Smith, had survived the entire journey," as Rachel Slade described 6/9/2024. The book reviewed by Slade, Challenger by Adam Higginbotham, explained, "The volume of air remaining in Smith’s pack also revealed that someone had been breathing from the supply for around two and a half minutes: almost exactly the length of time it took for the sundered crew cabin to fall the twelve miles from its apogee to the surface of the Atlantic." (p. 439). http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/northeastern-ebooks/detail.action?docID=30789142
Out of respect for more experienced Wikipedia editors I figured I'd ask first in Talk rather than boldly make the edit without first checking. Also I apologize I'm unfamiliar with the conventions for citation and wonder if anyone can help get that right too. Roben Torosyan, Ph.D. (talk) 00:48, 21 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]