Christa McAuliffe

Christa Mcauliffe: January 28th marks the 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster — just 73 seconds after lift-off, the space shuttle explodes, killing all seven astronauts on board, including Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher chosen by NASA to travel in space. The tragedy rocked the country and it had particular impact in classrooms all across the U.S.

The high school teacher from Concord, New Hampshire caught the imagination of students and teachers. Selected from over 11,000 applicants, McAuliffe spent a year training at the NASA facility in Houston to prepare for the expedition preparing for the flight. However, even with the intense demands of training, McAuliffe was in her classroom at Concord High on the first day of school and during her spare moments in the days before the launch, she wrote college recommendations for her students.

In her own application to join NASA’s Teachers In Space, McAuliffe wrote about growing up in New England during the 1960s and being captivated by the Mercury launches and the Apollo moon walks.

“I watched the Space Age being born,” she wrote. “I would like to participate…I cannot join the space program and restart my life as an astronaut, but this opportunity to connect my abilities as an educator with my interests in history and space is a unique opportunity to fulfill my early fantasies.”

During the course of her space flight, McAuliffe had planned to conduct two 15 minute classes from space that were to be broadcast to millions of schoolchildren via closed-circuit television. The first, which she named “The Ultimate Field Trip” was a tour of the Challenger spacecraft, and the second was christened “Where We’ve Be, Where We’re Going, And Why.”

McAuliffe’s infectious enthusiasm captured the attention of the country and the media. In the months leading up to the actual launch, she became a sought after speaker and is widely credited for reigniting national interest in the space program. In the aftermath of the Challenger tragedy, the tributes to this extraordinary teacher and the other six astronauts have helped created an enduring memorial. The Challenger Center for Space Science Education, a Virginia-based not-for-profit has 48 educational hubs. Several scholarships and awards have been established in her memory and over 40 U.S. school have been named in her honor, including a Massachusetts middle school where students are involved in space-research projects.

“This is research they’re doing now on space,” says the 10th-year teacher who created and spearheads the projects. “It’s not old research being redone. These are things you can’t find information on in books.”

And as only befits the memory of the extraordinary teacher for who their school was named, students will present their research at the Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State College, where Ms. McAuliffe received her bachelor’s degree. What better way to honor an educator who once said, “I touch the future, I teach.”