Christa McAuliffe

Being chosen to travel into space wasn't Christa McAuliffe's only goal in life but it was a very important one. Thousands of teachers applied for the opportunity to travel into space and make an impact on student's educations. Christa McAuliffe was an ordinary person with many goals in life. Being a teacher was the start and having the goal to make sure her students had the best learning opportunity was always her main focus in life. Christa was one of five children, raised by parents Edward and Grace Corrigan.  She always knew that she wanted to somehow be part of the space program so as soon as she got the chance, she took it. It took 3 months to make the decision to send in an application showing her interest about traveling to space. After spending most of her time training for her space travel, the day finally came to take off.  After unfortunate complications and an explosion in the aircraft, Christa and the other 6 astronauts had their lives end without the chance of experiencing space travel. To be a hero, you must have courage to put others before yourself and to make the best out of every situation.  Christa McAuliffe was hard working and very motivated in everything she did.  She did everything with a purpose and that is what made her a hero. 

           Christa McAuliffe was hard working because she pushed to accomplish the goals she had in life.  Beginning when Christa McAuliffe was accepted into the Teacher in Space Project, "Throughout her 120 days of astronaut training, McAuliffe shared the experience with the American public through mainstream media outlets" (Christa McAuliffe). Christa had to work very hard from filling out her application just right, to preparing for training. She went through 120 days of training. While in training, she was open to sharing her experience with all media outlets. Being in the Teacher in Space Project, She, ".had made plans to provide lessons from the shuttle on the benefits of space travel. Christa McAuliffe was a gifted social science teacher who was dedicated to her students and to the teaching profession."(Christa McAuliffe) Christa was a hardworking teacher and astronaut. She worked for what she believed in and what she wanted to accomplish. Having the plan to provide a lesson from space proved just how much she cared for teaching and the love she felt for her students and their education. Being hard working and dedicated in her goals, Christa McAuliffe was a woman that exceeded the limit with what she felt she needed to accomplish. 

Christa had to be very motivated to make the huge decisions and carrying out her mission to succeed in space. Christa was determined to be in the space program, "So when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced a contest to take a teacher into space, McAuliffe took some time to decide what she should do but once her mind was made up she jumped at the chance and applied. She won the contest, beating out more than 11,000 other applicants." (Christa McAuliffe) Having the dream to be a teacher able to travel into space was something that could be lived out by Christa," Being inspired and motivated was only the beginning for Christa after being selected from the 11,000 people that had applied for the contest.  Traveling into space wasn't the only thing that needed to be accomplished, "Always, the goal was to expand her students' horizons." (Wyborny, Sheila). Even though Christa McAuliffe was in training for space travel, she still made sure her teaching job and her students were taken care of. Her students were very important to her.  Making sure they succeeded to their fullest potential was her goal. Traveling into space was a big deal for Christa, but never was she just thinking about herself. Her teaching and making the education for her students better always came first. 

Christa McAuliffe was someone that should always be remembered by the hard work and motivation she had in life. She worked to do what she thought was best for her and everyone else around her. Having the motivation to go through a long process of preparing to travel into space is what made Christa who she was and showed how much she cared. Christa McAuliffe was an inspiration because of the many things she did in her life. She was a teacher that believed that teaching should be more than a lecture. She loved teaching and always put her student's education first doing what was best for them. Traveling into space gave her a chance to change the way of teaching. Even though Christa didn't make it into space, she still taught everyone a valuable lesson.  The lesson to never give up and to work your hardest in your life to reach the goals you have set for yourself. She let everyone know that their future should only be limited by their dreams. Christa McAuliffe was a woman that had one big goal in life. She strived to be the best teacher she could be with the hope of teaching and impacting young lives through space education.

Christa McAuliffe." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Detroit: Gale,  1998. Biography in Context. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.

Christa McAuliffe." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Vol. 20. Detroit: Gale, 2000.Biography in Context Web. 31 Jan. 2014

Wyborny, Sheila. Astronauts. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 2001. Print.