Christa McAuliffe

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Lore & Background

Sharon Christa Corrigan was born on September 2, 1948, in Boston as the oldest of five children. She graduated from Marian High School in 1966, earned a bachelor's degree in education and history from Framingham State College in 1970, and a master's degree in education, supervision and administration from Bowie State University in 1978. She married Steven J. McAuliffe in 1970 and had two children, Scott and Caroline. McAuliffe taught American history and civics at several schools in Maryland and New Hampshire before taking a social studies teaching position at Concord High School in 1983. In 1985, McAuliffe was selected from more than 11,000 applicants for NASA's Teacher in Space Project. She trained for mission STS-51-L, planning to conduct experiments and teach two lessons from space. On January 28, 1986, the shuttle broke apart 73 seconds after launch, killing all seven crew members. Her backup, Barbara Morgan, later became a professional astronaut and flew on Space Shuttle mission STS-118 in 2007.

Reader's Guide

Christa McAuliffe's significance lies in her role as the first teacher selected for spaceflight, embodying NASA's effort to involve ordinary citizens in space exploration and to inspire students. Her death in the Challenger disaster had a profound national impact, partly because of the excitement surrounding her presence on the shuttle and the live viewing by many schoolchildren. Posthumously, she was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 2004, and a statue of her was installed on the grounds of the New Hampshire State Capitol in 2024. Several schools have been named in her honor, including the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord, the Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center for Education and Teaching Excellence at Framingham State University, and many others. Her legacy continues to highlight the risks of spaceflight and the importance of education.

Did You Know?

• McAuliffe was a great niece of Lebanese-American historian Philip Khuri Hitti.
• She designed her own course titled 'The American Woman' at Concord High School.
• On her NASA application, she wrote: 'I watched the Space Age being born, and I would like to participate.'
• She planned to keep a personal journal like a 'woman on the Conestoga wagons pioneering the West.'
• A crater on the planet Venus was named McAuliffe by the Soviet Union.

Early Life and the Spark of Curiosity

Sharon Christa Corrigan entered the world on September 2, 1948, in Boston, as the eldest of five children born to Edward Christopher Corrigan, an accountant of English and Irish descent, and Grace Mary Corrigan, a substitute teacher whose father was of Lebanese Maronite descent. The family soon relocated to Framingham, Massachusetts, where Christa attended Marian High School and graduated in 1966. Growing up during the dawn of the Space Age, she was captivated by Project Mercury and the Apollo Moon landing program. The day after John Glenn orbited the Earth in Friendship 7, she told a friend at Marian High, 'Do you realize that someday people will be going to the Moon? Maybe even taking a bus, and I want to do that!' Years later, on her NASA application, she wrote: 'I watched the Space Age being born, and I would like to participate.' In 1970 she married Steven J. McAuliffe, a longtime boyfriend she had known since high school, who had graduated from the Virginia Military Institute. The couple had two children, Scott and Caroline, who were nine and six respectively when she died.

A Career Rooted in the Classroom

Christa McAuliffe built her professional identity around the classroom over more than a decade. She earned a bachelor's degree in education and history from Framingham State College in 1970 and later completed a master's degree in education, supervision, and administration at Bowie State University in 1978. Her first teaching post was as an American history instructor at Benjamin Foulois Junior High School in Morningside, Maryland, in 1970. From 1971 to 1978, she taught history and civics at Thomas Johnson Middle School in Lanham, Maryland. In 1978 her husband Steven accepted a job as assistant to the New Hampshire Attorney General, prompting the family's move to Concord. There she taught seventh and eighth grade American history and English, as well as ninth grade English in neighboring Bow, before settling into a social studies teaching post at Concord High School in 1983. Her courses spanned American history, law, and economics, and she even designed her own course titled 'The American Woman.' Field trips and bringing in speakers were an important part of her teaching techniques, and she emphasized the impact of ordinary people on history, saying they were as important as kings, politicians, or generals.

Earning a Seat on the Challenger

When President Ronald Reagan announced the Teacher in Space Project in 1984, NASA set out to find an 'ordinary person,' a gifted teacher who could communicate with students while in orbit and boost public interest in the Space Shuttle program. More than 11,000 applicants entered the race. The Council of Chief State School Officers coordinated the selection, narrowing the field to 114 semi-finalists chosen by state, territorial, and agency review panels. McAuliffe was one of just two teachers nominated by the state of New Hampshire. From June 22–27, 1985, the semi-finalists gathered in Washington, D.C., for a conference on space education and to meet with the Review Panel. On July 1, 1985, she was named among ten finalists, and on July 7 she traveled to Johnson Space Center for a week of thorough medical examinations and briefings about space flight. An evaluation committee of senior NASA officials interviewed the finalists and forwarded recommendations to Administrator James M. Beggs. On July 19, 1985, Vice President George H. W. Bush publicly announced McAuliffe as the chosen teacher, with Barbara Morgan designated as her backup. NASA official Alan Ladwig said she had 'an infectious enthusiasm,' and NASA psychiatrist Terrence McGuire called her 'the most broad-based, best-balanced person of the 10.' She and Morgan each took a year-long leave from teaching to prepare for the early-1986 flight. When asked about the mission on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, she stated, 'If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask what seat. Just get on.'

A Legacy Written in Memory

On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated just 73 seconds after launch at an altitude of 48,000 ft, claiming the lives of all seven crew members, including McAuliffe, who had been serving as a payload specialist. She had been preparing to run experiments in chromatography, hydroponics, magnetism, and Newton's laws, and to deliver two 15-minute classroom lessons from orbit: 'The Ultimate Field Trip' and 'Where We've Been, Where We're Going, Why.' In the aftermath, her memory was woven into the fabric of American education and public life. Multiple schools across the country received her name, including the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord, the Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center for Education and Teaching Excellence at Framingham State University, and many others. In 2004, Congress posthumously conferred upon her the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. Then in 2024, a statue honoring McAuliffe was unveiled on the grounds of the New Hampshire State Capitol in Concord, the community where she had taught for the final years of her career. Her children, Scott and Caroline, were nine and six years old when their mother perished. The asteroid 3352 McAuliffe, the crater McAuliffe on the Moon, and a crater on Venus named McAuliffe also carry her name.