We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.' " - Ronald Reagan, January 28, 1986Ī shocked nation mourned the passing of the seven crew members of the Challenger. "The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. However, less than two minutes after lift-off, the shuttle exploded, and everyone aboard died. Her students in Concord also tuned in with the rest of the country to watch the history-making space expedition. On January 28, 1986, McAuliffe's friends and family, including her two children, anxiously watched and waited for the Challenger space shuttle to take off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. WATCH NOW: Christa McAuliffe: Teacher in Space on HISTORY Vault Challenger Tragedy One final delay was due to a technical problem with a door latch mechanism. The third delay was because of inclement weather at the launch site. The second was because of a dust storm at an emergency landing site. The first one was a routine scheduling delay. The shuttle was originally scheduled for lift-off on January 22, but there were multiple delays. McAuliffe's mission, STS-51L, was to be the first to depart for space. More than any other year, 1986 was to be the year of the space shuttle, with 15 flights scheduled. She headed to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, in September 1985, returning only for the holidays. One of the more difficult aspects of the program was leaving her family for extensive training. She believed that by participating in the mission she could help students better understand space and how NASA works. As for McAuliffe, she saw the space mission as a chance to go on the ultimate field trip. Bush delivered the good news at a special ceremony at the White House, stating that McAuliffe was going to be the "first private citizen passenger in the history of space flight."Īfter NASA announced the selection of McAuliffe, her whole community rallied behind her, treating her as a hometown hero when she returned from the White House. McAuliffe won the contest, beating out more than 11,000 other applicants. McAuliffe was an extraordinary teacher with a dream of being a passenger on the space shuttle, so when NASA announced a contest to take a teacher into space, she jumped at the chance and applied. Three years later, President Ronald Reagan and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced a bold new program, the Teacher in Space Project. In 1981, when the first space shuttle circled the earth, McAuliffe made sure her students took notes. She landed a teaching job at a high school in Concord and gave birth to a second child, Caroline. After earning a master's degree in education from Bowie State College in 1978, McAuliffe and her family moved to New Hampshire. In 1976, she and Steven welcomed a son, Scott. The couple had met and fallen in love during their high school days.Īround this time, McAuliffe began her career as an educator, teaching American history and English to junior high school students in Maryland. She received a bachelor's degree in 1970 and married Steven McAuliffe soon after. McAuliffe graduated from Marian High School in 1966 and enrolled at Framingham State College, where she studied American history and education.
An adventurous child, McAuliffe grew up in a quiet, suburban neighborhood during the space age. When she was 5, she and her family moved to Framingham, Massachusetts.
Early Lifeīorn Sharon Christa Corrigan on September 2, 1948, in Boston, Massachusetts, Christa McAuliffe was the first of five children born to Edward and Grace Corrigan. The shuttle exploded shortly after lift-off, killing everyone on board. On January 28, 1986, McAuliffe boarded the Challenger space shuttle in Cape Canaveral, Florida. A high school teacher, Christa McAuliffe made history when she became the first American civilian selected to go into space in 1985.
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