Christa McAuliffe: Shuttle Casualty
Concord, New Hampshire
Heavily promoted as the First Teacher in Space in 1986; she never made it because the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51-L blew up.
McAuliffe was from Concord, and had been selected for NASA's Teachers in Space Project. The plan was for her to conduct a few classes in orbit, but the vehicle malfunctioned and broke apart over the north Atlantic Ocean a minute after launch.
Her statue was unveiled on Sept. 2, 2024, created by artist Benjamin Victor, and located on the grounds of the New Hampshire State Capitol. It would have been her 76th birthday.



