Harland takes us considerably beyond the simple news reporting of a space system failure. We learn that these have occurred quite frequently in the last 50 years. The book gives an appreciation why. Starting with the fact that the launch rockets are essentially large bombs, that have hopefully controlled explosions. But not always.Then, when the probe or satellite gets into space, much else can go awry. The batteries might fail. The communication chips that talk to ground control might have been misprogrammed. The gyroscope needed to orient the satellite could be defective. And so on. If you are an engineer, the book is a nice education in what has to work in most space systems.