From Dreams to Disaster: The Teacher in Space Project and Christa McAuliffe | 1986 | Time Travels

The Teacher in Space program was intended to be the great triumph of the space shuttle era

From orbit, the chosen teacher would be able to teach lessons and inspire millions of children across America to enter the STEM fields, which focus on science and math

It would cement NASA as an essential American institution and revitalise interest in space development among the public

Then, it blew up live in front of millions of people. Hello Time Travellers, I'm your friend Mike Brady

And this is the story of the Challenger disaster, the loss of six astronauts, and the tragic death of Krista McAuliffe

The Challenger mission was the 25th flight of the space shuttle

and was launched to deploy a new communications satellite that would have increased NASA's ability to communicate into space

That was the original idea, at least. As time went on and NASA's mission schedules were shifted

the Challenger also became the centerpiece of a new initiative. The Teacher in Space program was planned by the Reagan administration

to bring an ordinary American citizen into space, to prove America's capabilities

to inspire millions of children to pursue careers in science, and to bridge the gap between NASA and an increasingly apathetic public

After the moon landing in 1969, public interest in spaceflight began to die off

Questions were even asked about why billions of dollars were even being spent on space missions anymore

NASA and the government were finding new ways to show the world that spaceflight was a worthy endeavour

and the Teacher in Space program just might be the way to do it. Krista McAuliffe was a high school social studies teacher from New Hampshire

and one of over 10,000 applicants for the Teacher in Space program

She'd been a teacher since 1970 when she was 22. A dedicated, passionate professional

she cared deeply for her students and the state of America's education system

Krista's teaching style focused heavily on field trips and interaction. The New York Times reported that she emphasized the impact of ordinary people on history

saying they were as important to the historical records as kings, politicians or generals

Krista was also active in her community, taking part in the A Better Chance program or the ABC

which helped underprivileged American kids reach higher studies and opportunities. When the Teacher in Space program was announced

Krista replied immediately, promising NASA that she would keep a three-part journal

that would detail the planning, execution and after-effects of the mission. After a process lasting more than a year

and with thousands of applicants having entered, only a select few made the shortlist

In the end, the announcement was made, and headlines across the US printed the name Krista McAuliffe

Her students were elated. Ms McAuliffe was going to space. In 1985, Krista reported to NASA in Texas to undergo training

Because the program was intended as a way to get an ordinary person into space

the requirements for spaceflight were surprisingly thin, given what was at stake

Krista would need to go basic training, but she wouldn't be subject to the same rigorous standards that astronauts were

While Krista began to pass NASA fitness tests and start her training NASA planners were hard at work organizing the mission From the very beginning of the program though there were issues The Teacher in Space program had been decided on without even having a clear objective in mind

The Challenger mission was only settled on as the one to take Krista to space because it had been delayed from the year before and the schedules now matched

There was always a certain disconnect between the government's political goals and the

practical requirements from NASA. the President had decided that a teacher was going to space

and NASA had to find somewhere to slot her in. Unfortunately, this sort of political manoeuvring

might have played a role in the mission's eventual catastrophic failure. It was an unsettling fact for NASA that public interest in space development

had faded since its heyday in the 1960s. It had been decades since anything had captured the public's imagination

quite like the moon landing had. It was hoped that by putting a regular person into space

and broadcasting her experiences, NASA would once again be able to inspire the public as it once had

As part of these preparations, McCall had spent months before the launch travelling the country and giving interviews on television

She became quite a celebrity before the launch. Every effort was made by NASA to make her an appealing candidate for the program

When all was said and done, the Teacher in Space program wasn't a scientific mission

It was a cultural stunt designed to boost support for NASA. Krista herself reportedly commented before the launch that although she appreciated the

opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream and go to space, she felt she was being used by

NASA for political purposes. By January 1986, the Challenger mission had been prepared

The shuttle and its enormous boosters sat towering in the launching cradle at Cape Canaveral

in Florida. It would be the vehicle that would carry Krista and the rest of the crew into orbit at 28,000

kilometers or 17,000 miles per hour. It looked mighty and impressive, but there was an unforeseen

problem. 1986 was an unusually cold year for the north of Florida, and in January temperatures

were dropping below freezing. Usually they would sit at around 57 Fahrenheit or 14 degrees Celsius

The launch was delayed several times due to these conditions, but on the 28th of January the decision

was made that the shuttle should be launched anyway. This was in spite of the cold front that

had hit Florida and dropped the temperatures so low that ice had formed on the launch pad

Despite the fact that conditions really hadn't changed at all since the mission had been

cancelled the first time, the mission was given a go-ahead. Suited up, the Challenger crew proudly marched to the launching pad, but this would be the

last time they'd be seen alive. cameras were switched on around the country millions of television sets were tuned in

with the usual process and rigmarole the countdown began in stands miles away family and friends of

the challenger crew watched with a mixed sense of apprehension and extreme pride among them

were Krista's elderly parents. They surely couldn't believe that their little girl would be going to space

They held each other close in the chilly January air and waited. With a roar, the Challenger's rocket engines burst into fiery life

and then, like a giant hand had lifted the monstrous vehicle up

it began to soar skyward faster and faster until, by 11.38am, it was arcing triumphantly in the sky

it had gone well the shuttle had cleared the launch pad it was well on its way Krista parents hugged and grinned but then something went wrong A small flame sprouted from the side of the shuttle It quickly expanded into a fireball

The entire assembly disintegrated, rocket boosters flying off in crazy directions, their engines still firing madly

The Challenger exploded in mid-air just 73 seconds after launch. For more than an hour, fiery debris raining down over the ocean

and spent fuel and pieces of rocket plummeted back down to Earth. The observing public was left distraught

at having watched the disaster play out in real time. None of the crew made it

Commander Richard Scobie, pilot Michael J. Smith, and astronauts Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnick

Gregory Jarvis and Ron McNair were all lost so too was America's sweetheart

the elementary teacher from Boston Kristen McAuliffe it wasn't just her parents

who'd watched it happen back home her entire student cohort had watched it live on TV

immediately after the crash the State of the Union address was cancelled out of respect

At 5pm that evening, President Reagan gave a live speech from the Oval Office saying..

The future doesn't belong to the faint-hearted. It belongs to the brave

The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them

We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews

and yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here

Our hopes and our journeys continue. 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

Thank you. They were inspiring words, but they weren't enough to undo the damage

that had been done to NASA and the American space program as a whole. With the country in shock and mourning, serious questions began to be asked

The Rogers Commission was organized to investigate the failure of the Challenger and in June delivered a report that condemned NASA as a whole

The organization had been assigned too much work with not enough resources and had allowed its leadership to become disconnected from the engineers

For the next few years, NASA underwent a structural shift as the report's suggestions were implemented

There would be fewer missions with greater preparation time, and the NASA managers had to be in constant contact with scientific personnel to ensure that no future incidents like Challenger could occur

Disturbingly, what had actually gone wrong on board the rocket was actually foreseen by many engineers on the ground and then ignored by NASA officials

The O-ring seals on the rocket engines were a rubbery material that was designed to seal the joint between the individual sections of the solid rocket boosters

Surprisingly, the O-rings hadn't been designed to work in freezing temperatures. The immense cold that January had caused the O-rings to seize, harden

and eventually crack from the pressures of the engines Eventually the flames broke through the seal caused a failure in the fuel tank and a catastrophic explosion that tore the shuttle apart To this day there are questions about why NASA was so insistent

on launching on the 28th of January. One possible answer is that President Reagan

was giving his State of the Union address that same day, and the successful launch of the Challenger

and the completion of the Teacher in Space program would have provided a nice way to round out the speech

It's possible the government influenced NASA to push the launch forward in spite of the risks in order to please Reagan

There's no direct evidence of this, and Reagan certainly didn't order the shuttle to be launched on that day

It's likely that there is no single answer, and any involvement from the White House came more from implication and assumption

rather than direct orders. Nevertheless, against the warnings of the engineers on the ground

the Challenger was launched, and everybody aboard was lost. The Challenger disaster wasn't just a failure that killed six astronauts and America's sweetheart

What was meant to be the fulfillment of NASA's mission was a spectacular and public failure

that set back public support for NASA by an enormous margin. It would be more than two years before any other space shuttle mission was given the go-ahead

as the program underwent review. As for the Teacher in Space program, well, after the disaster

periodic meetings took place in NASA discussing the status of the program

but nothing was ever decided on. It was simply too risky to allow another civilian onto a space shuttle flight

until a complete overhaul of the program had taken place. Eventually, in 1990, the teacher in space program was shut down entirely

The spaces on the shuttle mission were too valuable and too much could go wrong to allow civilians on board

for at least the foreseeable future. But then in 2007, some 21 years after Challenger

an educator, finally traveled to space where she spent over 12 hours in orbit as part of a shuttle

crew. She wasn't technically a teacher at the time though, she was just an astronaut who had

happened to formally be a teacher. Her name was Barbara Morgan. Back in 1986, she had been the

original backup astronaut for Krista McAuliffe. It was in some ways the culmination of the efforts

Krista and six other astronauts had given their lives for some two decades earlier

Today, Krista is remembered through memorials and monuments throughout the US. In 2004, she was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor

In 2021, had a commemorative coin issued in her memory. She'd lost her life for something that she truly believed in

something that she had dedicated her 37 years on Earth to. Reagan's words weren't just hyperbole

He was right. There were more space shuttle missions, and we continue as a species to touch the face of God

For Krista's part, she is probably best remembered by her inspirational words

What are we doing here? We're reaching for the stars. May your future be limited only by your dreams

Hello, time travellers. Thank you so much for watching this video. If you enjoyed it, leave a comment below

and don't forget to subscribe to the channel. Until next time, remember, history doesn't repeat, but certainly echoes