Christa McAuliffe

Sharon Christa Corrigan McAuliffe (née Corrigan, Boston, Massachusetts, September 2, 1948 - Cape Canaveral, Florida, January 28, 1986) was an American high school teacher from Concord, New Hampshire and one of the seven crew members killed in the space shuttle Challenger disaster on mission STS-51-L, where he worked as a payload specialist.

She received her bachelor's degree in education and history from Framingham State College in 1970 and also a master's degree in education, supervision, and administration from Bowie State University in 1978. She took a teaching position as a social studies teacher at Concord High School in New Hampshire in 1983.

In 1985, she was selected from more than 11,000 applicants to participate in NASA's Teachers in Space Project, and it was determined that she would become the first teacher in space. As a member of the STS-51 mission -L, planned to conduct experiments and teach two lessons aboard the space shuttle Challenger. On January 28, 1986, the shuttle disintegrated 73 seconds after launch, killing all crew members. Following her death, several schools and scholarships were named in her honor, and in 2004 she was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Biography

Sharon Christa Corrigan was born on September 2, 1948 in Boston, the eldest of five children of accountant Edward Christopher Corrigan (1922–1990), of Irish descent; and Grace Mary Corrigan (1924–2018), maiden name; George), a substitute teacher, whose father was of Lebanese Maronite descent. McAuliffe was the great-granddaughter of the Lebanese-American historian Philip Khuri Hitti. From an early age, she was known by her middle name, although in the following years she would sign her name “S. Christa Corrigan”, and then “S. Christa McAuliffe."

The year he was born, his father was finishing his sophomore year at Boston University. Shortly thereafter, she accepted a job as an assistant supervisor at a department store in Boston, and they moved to Framingham, Massachusetts, where she attended Marian High School, graduating in 1966. As a young woman, Christa was inspired by Project Mercury and the Apollo lunar landing program. The day after John Glenn orbited the earth in Friendship 7, she told a friend, “Do you realize that one day people will land on the moon? Maybe even taking a bus, and I want to do that!" Years later she would write in her application to NASA: "I have seen the Space Age dawn, and I want to participate."

In 1966, he graduated from Marian High School in Framingham, Massachusetts, and received a Bachelor of Arts from Framingham State College. In 1978 she earned a master's degree in education from Bowie State College, in Bowie, Maryland.

In 1970, she married her longtime boyfriend, whom she had known and been in a relationship with since high school, Steven J. McAuliffe, a 1970 graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, and they moved to Washington, D.C., in order to attend the Georgetown University Law Center.

They had two children, Scott and Caroline, who were nine and six years old, respectively, when she died.

From 1970 to 1971, she taught eighth grade United States History at Benjamine Foulois Junior High School in Morningside, Maryland. From 1971 to 1978 she was an eighth grade English and United States history teacher and a ninth grade civics teacher at Thomas Johnson Junior High School in Lanham, Maryland. In 1978 she moved to Concord, New Hampshire, when Steven accepted a position as assistant to the New Hampshire Attorney General. In 1978-1979 she was a seventh and eighth grade United States history teacher at Bundlett Junior High School in Concord, New Hampshire. From 1980 to 1982 she taught as a ninth grade English teacher at Bow Memorial High School, Concord, New Hampshire. From 1982 to 1985 she taught 10th, 11th and 12th grade courses in economics, law, US history, and a self-developed course entitled “The American Woman” at Concord High School., Concord, New Hampshire. She took field trips and brought speakers to her class as an important part of her educational methods. According to the New York Times, she "emphasized the impact of ordinary people on history, asserting that they were as important to the historical record as kings, politicians, or generals."

Christa McAuliffe was a member of the following organizations: board member of the New Hampshire Social Studies Council; Concord Teachers Association and the National Education Association.

He was also a member of other non-educational organizations: a member of the Youth Service League; professor of Doctrinal Classes at St. Peters Church; her family hosted the A Better Chance Program (ABC), for students from the interior; and she was also a fundraiser for Concord Hospital and the Concord YMCA.

NASA experience

The Challenger starting his last flight.

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan announced the Teachers in Space Project, and Christa first heard of NASA's efforts to find its first civilian, an educator, to send into space against an "ordinary person." ”, an educator or educator who could communicate with his students while orbiting in space. McAuliffe became one of 11,000 candidates.

I cannot be part of the space program and start my life from zero as an astronaut, but this opportunity to unite my skills as a teacher with my interest in history and space is a unique opportunity to fulfill my earliest dreams. I'll never give up.

Christa McAuliffe.

NASA hoped that sending a teacher into space would increase general interest in the Space Shuttle program, while also demonstrating the reliability of space travel at a time when they were under perpetual pressure to find financial support.. President Reagan said that this would also remind the public of the importance of teachers and education as a service to the country.

NASA selected the Council of State School Principals, a nonprofit organization of public education officials, to coordinate the selection process. Of the initial number of candidates, 114 semi-finalists were nominated by state, territory and agency review groups. McAuliffe was one of two teachers nominated by the state of New Hampshire. The semifinalists met in Washington, D.C., from June 22 to 27, 1985, for a conference on education in space and to meet with the Review Panel that would select the ten finalists.

On July 19, 1985, Christa McAuliffe was selected as the lead candidate for NASA's Professor in Space Project. This is how she was selected as a payload specialist for the STS 51-L mission of the Space Shuttle Challenger. On July 7, she traveled to the Johnson Space Center, where she resided for a week, to undergo medical examinations and attend meetings and seminars on space travel. Finalists were interviewed by a review committee made up of senior NASA officials. The committee sent recommendations to NASA Administrator James M. Beggs for selecting primary and backup candidates for the project. Another teacher, Barbara Morgan, was her substitute. According to Mark Travis of the Concord Monitor, it was her way of carrying herself that made her stand out from the other candidates. NASA official Alan Ladwig said of her that she "had an infectious enthusiasm", and NASA psychiatrist Terrence McGuire said in an interview for New Woman magazine. that she “she was the most balanced person of the 10.”

A few months later, both McAuliffe and Morgan took a year's time off from teaching to train for the Space Shuttle mission of early 1986. NASA covered the salaries of both during that year. Even without being a member of the NASA astronaut corps, McAuliffe would become part of the crew of the STS-51-L mission, and would carry out experiments and classes from space. His duties would include basic science experiments in the fields of chromatography, hydroponics, magnetism, and Newton's laws. He also planned to conduct two 15-minute classes from space, including a tour of the spacecraft called "The Ultimate Excursion," and a lesson on the benefits of space travel called "Where We've Been, Where We're Going, Why.". The lessons were to be televised for millions of schoolchildren through closed circuit television. To record her thoughts, McAuliffe purported to keep a diary as "a pioneer woman on the Westbound wagons from Conestoga."

After being chosen to be the first teacher in space, she was a guest on various television shows, including Good Morning America; CBS Morning News; The Today Show; and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where she, when asked about the mission, said: "If you're offered a seat on a rocket, don't ask which seat. Just keep going." She had an immediate rapport with the media, and the Teachers in Space Project received popular attention as a result.

His year-long training included flights in fighter jets and zero-gravity trainer aircraft, as well as techniques for mission payload handling. She was basically trained like any astronaut. In January 1986, it was time for launch, but after several delays due to technical problems, it finally lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida at 11:38:00 EST (16:38:00 UTC) on January 28, 1986., despite the warnings of some engineers to the administration about the possible adverse effect that the extremely low temperatures that had been registered the night before could have on some vital parts of the ship. The Challenger crew consisted of: Commander Francis Scobee, Pilot Commander Michael Smith, and Mission Specialists: Dr. Ronald McNair, Lt. Col. Ellison Onizuka, Dr. Judith Resnik, and fellow Payload Specialist Gregory Jarvis. Challenger managed to take off from the launch pad and execute its tack maneuver, up to that point, to observers on the ground, everything seemed normal.

The Challenger Catastrophe

The Challenger It disintegrates through the air.

The Space Shuttle Challenger accident occurred when 72.5 seconds (according to the calculations found) after launch, a jet of fire and incandescent gases emanated from the right solid fuel propellant tank, which impinged directly on the walls of the main tank of fuel, causing its collapse and deflagration. The shuttle was then involved in a gigantic ball of fire, and exposed to uncontrolled aerodynamic forces, it disintegrated almost entirely, the cabin emerging intact from the deflagration. The 7 crew members died when the ship's cabin hit the ocean, after a long fall of more than 2 minutes. The final circumstances of his death are unknown, the commission of inquiry into the accident of the Space Shuttle Challenger (The Rogers Commission) determined as "unlikely" the fact that some of them were conscious at the moment of impact, although evidence later came to light that at least four of the crew members were able to activate their auxiliary oxygen supply systems, and that they tried to help each other.

The cabin was the only section of the ship that managed to survive the terrible destruction of the explosion, but it could not withstand the final impact against the ocean, disintegrating along with its occupants. It was determined that the tragedy occurred due to a leak of gases from a defective ring of the right solid propulsion rocket. The cabin module fell from a height of 15,240 meters, thus producing the fatal outcome.

The astronauts did not have a parachute or ejection equipment, nor did they have specific training for a case like this, circumstances that led to strong criticism of NASA.

NASA had estimated the odds of a catastrophic accident during launch (the most dangerous moment of space flight) at a ratio of 1 in 438.

The President's Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, also known as the Rogers Commission, was created to investigate the disaster. It determined that the accident was due to a failure of the Morton-Thiokol-manufactured rubber O-rings that provided a pressure seal in the aft field hinge of the shuttle's right Solid Rocket Booster. The failure of the O-rings was attributed to a design flaw, as their performance could be too easily compromised by factors such as low temperatures on launch day. The Commission found that the resistance of the O-rings is directly related to temperature and, due to the low temperature at the time of launch (36 degrees Fahrenheit or 15 degrees less than a previous colder launch) it was likely that the O-rings would not they would have provided a proper seal.

This accident, the most shocking of the Space Shuttle Program, seriously damaged NASA's reputation as a space agency and the proposal of the participation of civilians, promulgated by Ronald Reagan and materialized in the elementary school teacher Christa McAuliffe, was rejected by ground all administrative and security structures. NASA temporarily suspended its space flights until 1988.

According to NASA, it was partly because of the excitement over their presence on the shuttle that the accident had such a significant effect on the nation. Many schoolchildren were watching the launch live, and media coverage of the accident was extensive.

Barbara Morgan, her deputy, became a professional astronaut in January 1998, and flew on space shuttle mission STS-118 to the International Space Station on August 8, 2007 aboard Endeavour. the orbiter that replaced Challenger.

Christa McAuliffe in posterity

McAuliffe was buried in Blossom Hill Cemetery in her hometown of Concord.

Since then she has been honored at many events, including the 1986 Daytona 500 NASCAR race. The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord, the Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center for Education and Educational Excellence at Framingham State University, and S. Christa McAuliffe Elementary School in Lowell, Massachusetts, were named in her honor, among others:

• The lunar crater McAuliffe bears this name in his memory.
• In his honor the asteroid was named 3352 McAuliffe.
• She was decorated in the United States with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
• Planetarium Christa McAuliffe was opened in 1990 in his honor

At least 35 schools in the United States, three in Peru, one in Mexico, one in Bolivia, a high school in Chile, as well as an institution in Venezuela bear his name, as well as various institutions and student programs. Several documentaries and television series referring to her tragedy have honored her in a special way, as well as various state recognitions for her courage and sacrifice for the cause she pursued.

Numerous books and well-known magazine articles, including Time magazine and Reader's Digest, have paid tribute to him in articles dedicated to his memory.

Scholarships and other events have also been established in his memory. The Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference has been held in Nashua, New Hampshire every year since 1986, and is dedicated to the use of technology in all aspects of education. The Nebraska McAuliffe Award honors a Nebraska teacher each year for their courage and excellence in education. The American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the National Council for Social Studies award scholarships in her name, honoring innovative teachers.

She was played by Karen Allen in the 1990 TV movie Challenger. In October 2018, it was announced that Michelle Williams would be cast as McAuliffe in The Challenger, another retelling of the space shuttle Challenger disaster. In 2019, McAuliffe was portrayed by Erika Waldorf in the independent film The Challenger Disaster. The spaceship in the children's science fiction series Space Cases (1996-1997), about a group of students lost in space, was named "Christa". In 2006, a documentary about her and Morgan titled Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars aired on CNN as CNN Presents. The film, produced by Renee Sotile and Mary Jo Godges, commemorated the 20th anniversary of her death. It was narrated by Susan Sarandon, and included an original song by Carly Simon.

Her parents worked with Framingham State University to establish the McAuliffe Center. Her husband Steven J. McAuliffe remarried and in 1992 became a federal judge, serving on the New Hampshire District Court in Concord. Her son, Scott, completed his graduate studies in marine biology, and her daughter, Caroline, followed the same career as her mother: teaching. On July 23, 2004, she and all 13 other astronauts lost on both Challenger and Columbia were posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor by the President George W. Bush.

On January 28, 2016, several teachers who competed with McAuliffe for a seat on the Challenger traveled to Cape Canaveral, Florida, for a 30th anniversary memorial service, along with her widower, Steven and his son, Scott. After remarking that 30 years had passed, Steven said: “The Challenger will always be a recent event. Our thoughts and memories of Christa will always be fresh and comforting." In 2017, McAuliffe was inducted into the International Air and Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air and Space Museum.

In 2015, Christa was featured in the Frank Turner song "Silent Key", recounting the flight of the Challenger and its crew.

In 2019, Congress passed the Christa McAuliffe Commemorative Coin Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump on October 9, 2019. The bill allows the Treasury Department to “issue no more than 350,000 coins $1 silver medal commemorating Christa McAuliffe." The coins were minted in 2021.

Probably the greatest honor that Christa McAuliffe can receive as a teacher, is without a doubt the recognition that hundreds of students from both the United States and Mexico give her annually on the date of the commemoration of the Challenger accident, every January 28.