Christa McAuliffe

Christa had been fascinated by the space program since she was a childhood. She earned a BA from Framingham State College in 1970 and soon after married her longtime boyfriend, Steven McAuliffe. The couple moved to Washington, DC so McAuliffe so could attend Georgetown University Law School. Christa taught American history and social studies in the Washington area and earned an master's degree from Bowie State University. The couple had two children. In 1978, they moved to Concord, New Hampshire, when McAuliffe was named assistant to the state attorney general. Christa became a teacher at Concord High School. In 1984 NASA announced it was seeking a teacher to fly on the space shuttle and Christa applied. McAulliffe was accepted and took a leave of absence from teaching to train for the expedition. McAuliffe and the seven other astronauts on board were killed when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 78 seconds after taking off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Jan. 28, 1986.