(Sharon) Christa (Corrigan) McAuliffe was born in Boston on Sept. 2, 1948, growing up in Framingham, Massachusetts. In 1966 she graduated from Marian High School then went on to Framingham State College where she studied education and American history. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1970, she married her high school sweetheart, Steven McAuliffe that same year.
She began her teaching career in Maryland, teaching junior high students English and American history. In 1978, McAuliffe received her master’s degree from Bowie State College in Maryland and in 1983 the family moved to New Hampshire where she was hired to teach social studies at Concord High School.
In 1984, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced a new program aptly named the “Teacher in Space Project.” McAuliffe applied (along with more than 11,000 other people!) and eventually was named the winner of the contest. Her dream of helping students to understand space and how NASA works was closer to coming true. Now it was off to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas for extensive training in Sept. 1985.
The Challenger was initially scheduled for lift-off on Jan. 22, 1986 but was put off due to a scheduling delay. A second delay occurred due to a dust storm at an emergency landing site. Another delay was caused by inclement weather at the launch site. The final delay was because of a technical problem with a door latch mechanism.
Finally, on Jan. 28,1986, with friends and family, including her two children in attendance, her students in Concord along with the rest of the nation anxiously watching on television, the history-making space expedition lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. In less than two minutes after lift-off, the unthinkable happened. The shuttle exploded, and all seven crew members aboard died.
"The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. 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, 1986
Christa McAuliffe brought such enthusiasm and a love of learning to her many students. To honor her memory there are now roughly forty schools worldwide named after her including the Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center for Education and Teaching Excellence at Framingham State University, the S. Christa McAuliffe Elementary School in Lowell, Mass., and others in New York, Utah and Louisiana.
There is the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord, NH; Christa McAuliffe Park in Green Bay, WI; McAuliffe Branch Library in Framingham, Mass. In Nashua, the Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference (committed to using technology in all forms of education) has been held every year since 1986. In Nebraska, the McAuliffe Prize annually honors a teacher from Nebraska for courage and excellence in education. The American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the National Council for the Social Studies award grants in McAuliffe’s name to trailblazing, forward thinking teachers.
Even in space McAuliffe is remembered. An asteroid is named the “3352 McAuliffe,” a crater on the moon and the planet Venus is named “McAuliffe.”
During Women’s History Month, we honor and acknowledge the shining star known as Christa McAuliffe.