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Statue of Christa McAuliffe Unveiled at New Hampshire State House Grounds

Catwell

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Christa McAuliffe gets a preview of microgravity during a flight aboard NASA's KC-135 "zero gravity" aircraft (Image Credit: NASA)

On September 2nd, a Christa McAuliffe bronze statue was revealed in Concord, New Hampshire, honoring NASA's "Teacher-in-Space." The memorial shows the teacher in her NASA flight suit, walking forward---portraying her appearance as she approached the launch pad 38 years ago. McAuliffe would've celebrated her 76th birthday on the day of the statue reveal. She died with her crewmates on Challenger on January 28th, 1986, shortly after launch. 

McAuliffe served as a social sciences high school teacher and was selected to become the first-ever private citizen to fly in space. She became a payload specialist and joined NASA's STS-51L mission along with *** Scobee (commander), Mike Smith (pilot), and mission specialists Ellison Onizuka, Ron McNair, and Judy Resnik. Payload specialist Greg Jarvis also joined the crew.

After lifting off in 1986, McAuliffe's objective involved recording six science lessons, including magnetism and simple machines. However, 73 seconds after launch, a pressure seal in one of Challenger's solid rocket boosters malfunctioned, causing the vehicle to disintegrate, killing McAuliffe and the crew.

Nearly four decades passed since the Challenger tragedy, and Governor Chris Sununu issued an executive order to form the Christa McAuliffe State House Memorial Commission. The focus is to honor "Christa's legacy as a selfless and courageous New Hampshire educator and astronaut." The commission was assigned to choose a location for the memorial on State House grounds and select an artist to design and create the monument.

They hired Benjamin Victor to create an 8-ft tall bronze statue set atop a 20,000-pound granite base with the quote "I touch the future. I teach," inscribed. This is the first statue portraying a woman in over 100 years at the New Hampshire State House grounds. Victor relied on archival footage and interviews to capture the teacher's likeness, with help from Barbara Morgan, McAuliffe's NASA backup.

This memorial complements other McAuliffe tributes, such as the one at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Arlington National Cemetery, along with namesake schools. The commission also formed a student art contest centered around McAuliffe's life, and winners were announced at the ceremony.  

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"Teacher in Space" statue outside the New Hampshire State House. (Image credit: John Tylko)

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