Casual view of Christa McAuliffe during training for STS 51-L

S85-37677 (8-12 July 1985) --- Sharon C. (Christa) McAuliffe of Concord High, Concord, New Hampshire, talks to nurse during physiological testing on first day at Johnson Space Center (JSC). Christa McAuliffe was eventually chosen as the first Teacher in Space and was a member of the seven-member Challenger shuttle crew which died tragically in the explosion of the spacecraft during the launch of STS-51L from the Kennedy Space Center about 11:40 a.m., EST, on Jan. 28, 1986. The explosion occurred 73 seconds into the flight as a result of a leak in one of two Solid Rocket Boosters that ignited the main liquid fuel tank. The crew members of the Challenger represented a cross-section of the American population in terms of race, gender, geography, background, and religion. The explosion became one of the most significant events of the 1980s, as billions around the world saw the accident on television and empathized with any one of the several crew members killed. Photo credit: NASA