On Jan. 28, 1986, just 73 seconds into the flight, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, shocking the world and killing all seven crew members on board. Best-selling author Adam Higginbotham will discuss his newest book, “Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space,” at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 9 at Vinegar Hill Music Theatre in Arundel.

This third annual Fall Author Night is hosted by Louis T. Graves Memorial Library in Kennebunkport and is open to the public. The annual fundraising event, according to a news release, features nationally recognized authors and speakers. Last year’s speaker was Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and celebrated teacher Richard Russo, interviewed by fellow fiction writer Tom Perrotta.

Ticket sales and donations support Graves Library’s essential operations and celebrate the community’s commitment to ideas and dialogue.

“Challenger” is the definitive, dramatic, minute-by-minute story of the doomed space shuttle based on fascinating new archival research and in-depth reporting. Millions of Americans witnessed the tragic deaths of the crew, including New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. Higginbotham’s publisher (Avid Reader Press) describes the book as “a riveting history that reads like a thriller.”

The book follows a handful of central protagonists — including each of the seven members of the crew —through the years leading up to the accident, plus a detailed account of the tragedy itself and the investigation that followed. Higginbotham reveals the history of the shuttle program, the lives of the men and women whose stories have been overshadowed by the disaster, as well as the designers, engineers, and test pilots who struggled against the odds to get the first space shuttle into space.

In addition to his two books, Higginbotham has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Wired, GQ and Smithsonian.

Tickets for the Oct. 9 event are on sale online at vinhillmusic.com. According to organizers, the fall event sells out quickly.