He was born and raised in Hawaii, and brought the islands’ culture along with him throughout his career in the military and with NASA, becoming an ambassador of sorts who delighted crewmates with large pig roasts during their time together in training. The good-natured and very popular Ellison Onizuka was the first-ever Asian American and person of Japanese descent to travel into space. Ellison OnizukaĮllison Onizuka Photo: Space Frontiers/Archive Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Her legacy of curiosity, optimism and grace has been frequently honored since the explosion awards, scholarships and schools all bear her name. The two lessons that McAuliffe had planned, titled “The Ultimate Field Trip" and "Where We've Been, Where We're Going, Why,” were later recorded on the International Space Station.
Schools around the country tuned into the Challenger’s launch due to her presence on the shuttle. McAuliffe trained for six months to join the crew as a payload specialist, and she was to both help with experiments on the space station as well as give two lessons that would be broadcast to classrooms across the country. She became an overnight celebrity and the focus of extensive media attention, as did her family and students at Concord High School. The field was whittled down to 10 finalists and McAuliffe was ultimately chosen after medical tests and other evaluations.Ī 37-year-old mother of two at the time of the flight, McAuliffe was a high school social studies and English teacher with 15 years of experience in the classroom. She earned her spot on the shuttle by winning the Teacher in Space Project, a contest launched by President Ronald Reagan and NASA that received over 11,000 applications. Much of the excitement centered on Christa McAullife, a teacher from New Hampshire who was to become the first civilian to fly in space. Most of the astronauts were making history of some kind, leaving many different communities in mourning. But it was the tenth and ultimately ill-fated launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida that was by far the Challenger’s most anticipated, in large part thanks to the unique nature of the crew that was making the journey.Īny disaster of this magnitude is a great tragedy, but the Challenger’s doomed journey felt especially devastating because it carried a crew that reflected the diversity of the United States and multiculturalism that was beginning to emerge after the civil rights era.
The shuttle brought the first woman and African American into space, hosted the first space lab and enabled the first astronaut-run satellite repair. The Challenger had flown nine times before over the previous nine years and helped the United States reach several important milestones. Further wall-to-wall coverage and years of retrospectives have seared the grainy image of a faulty rocket bursting into flames and the Challenger and its seven brave passengers veering off course into the national consciousness.
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On the morning of January 28, 1986, what was meant to be a seminal moment for NASA and the future of space travel turned into a disaster that was viewed on live TV by millions around the country. The explosion that doomed the Challenger space shuttle remains one of the most harrowing and heartbreaking moments in American history.
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