Sharon Christa McAuliffe (née Corrigan; September 2, 1948 – January 28, 1986) was an American teacher and astronaut from Concord, New Hampshire who died on the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51-L, where she was serving as a payload specialist.

[6] Not long after, he took a job as an assistant comptroller in a Boston department store, and they moved to Framingham, Massachusetts, where McAuliffe attended Marian High School, graduating in 1966.

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?

"[12] McAuliffe wrote years later on her NASA application form: "I watched the Space Age being born, and I would like to participate.

[14] McAuliffe obtained her first teaching position in 1970, as an American history teacher at Benjamin Foulois Junior High School in Morningside, Maryland.

In addition to teaching, McAuliffe completed a Master of Arts in education supervision and administration from Bowie State University in Maryland.

According to The New York Times, McAuliffe "emphasized the impact of ordinary people on history, saying they were as important to the historical record as kings, politicians or generals.

[25] The Council of Chief State School Officers, a non-profit organization of public officials in education, was chosen by NASA to coordinate the selection process.

[27] The semi-finalists gathered in Washington, D.C., from June 22–27, 1985, for a conference on space education and to meet with the Review Panel that would select the 10 finalists.

"[27] Later that year, McAuliffe and Morgan each took a year-long leave of absence from teaching in order to train for a Space Shuttle mission in early 1986.

While not a member of the NASA Astronaut Corps, McAuliffe was to be part of the STS-51-L crew, and would conduct experiments and teach lessons from space.

Her planned duties included basic science experiments in the fields of chromatography, hydroponics, magnetism, and Newton's laws.

To record her thoughts, McAuliffe intended to keep a personal journal like a "woman on the Conestoga wagons pioneering the West.

"[32] After being chosen to be the first teacher in space, McAuliffe was a guest on several television programs, including Good Morning America; the CBS Morning News; the Today Show; and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where, when asked about the mission, she stated, "If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask what seat.

[50] Grants in McAuliffe's name, honoring innovative teachers, are provided by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the National Council for the Social Studies.

Her son, Scott, completed graduate studies in marine biology, and her daughter, Caroline, went on to pursue the same career as her mother: teaching.

[47] On July 23, 2004, McAuliffe and all the other 13 astronauts lost in both the Challenger and Columbia disasters were posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor by President George W.

[61] On January 28, 2016, several teachers who competed alongside McAuliffe for a seat on the Challenger traveled to Cape Canaveral, Florida, for a 30th anniversary remembrance service, along with her widower, Steven, and son, Scott.

[63] In 2019, Congress passed the Christa McAuliffe Commemorative Coin Act which was signed into law by President Donald Trump on October 9, 2019.