[Spacetalk] teacher/astronaut

Gabe Gabrielle gabe at educatemotivate.com
Wed Jan 27 08:24:29 CST 2016


Good morning all,
 I hope your week is going great and everyone is enjoying your day…..tomorrow is such a special day, what I think is the saddest in the history of the space program, as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Challenger disaster. The Astronauts Memorial Foundation is holding a ceremony to honor the crew of space shuttle Challenger STS-51L; as well as pay tribute to the crews of Apollo 1, Columbia, and other NASA colleagues who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery. It is almost beyond comprehension that this was 30 years ago as it is so vivid in my mind. I know so many may not understand why but this was such a special mission….at that time NASA wanted to bring more interest into the space program so they decided the best way would be to take a teacher from the classroom, train her to be a teacher/astronaut….after a lengthy selection process, two teachers were selected, Christa Mcauliffe as primary and Barbara Morgan, as her back up….we all followed as this wonderful teacher brought new life, enthusiasm, and excitement to the space program. While the astronauts are amazing and so gracious, Christa was very special as she shared her training, mission planning, and lessons she would teach from space. Kids all over the world and were so excited as were so many teachers (and I think every person who ever dreamed of going to space) who lived through her, imagining they are on the mission too. The mission had several delays, as they often did, and there seemed to be allot of pressure to get the mission launched…when it did launch it was awesome until 73 seconds into flight when it exploded killing all 7 astronauts on board, including Christa…..even now, it numbs me as it is still so hard to comprehend….I hope you will all find a few minutes to honor Christa with your students as we recognize her amazing impact on the space program and for epitomizing the impact teachers have on our lives…. wishing you a wonderful day...we have to always remember to do our best, enjoy everything we do, live in the present, be appreciative of the good in our lives, make each day special, smile & have fun! Gabe







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