Christa McAuliffe’s legacy carries on at Framingham State 30 years later

It featured a musical performance and a video of President Reagan’s address to the nation 30-years-ago. All seven people on board died. Seven astronauts were killed in the disaster, perhaps the best remembered being school teacher Christa McAuliffe.

Those crew members and the mission were remembered today across the country and here in our area.

APPHOTO NY591: FILE – In this January 28, 1986 picture, the space shuttle Challenger lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. shortly before it exploded with a crew of seven aboard. A group of Florida High School elementary students looked on as a wreath was laid in tribute.

The event included a candle ceremony and talks by Homer Hickam and Todd May, the acting Marshall Space Flight Center Director.

The NewsHour profiled Barbara Morgan in 2007 as she prepared to launch to space in the Space Shuttle Endeavor.

“I think NASA came out of it as a safer organization, that they had learned some important lessons and that in fact is what is most important here”, he said. It was confusing. Obviously, at that age I had no idea what was going on.

Heath said, “The real heroes are the families who stay behind and are praying for their family members every day as they’re living out their dreams in space”.

“That day we were reminded very, very clearly that things can go wrong”.

Local teachers say teaching children about events like the Challenger explosion is a balancing act, dependent on the needs of the child, parents and the community.

“The disaster really highlighted concerns engineers had been raising about the shuttle design”, said Jonathan Jerome, a science communicator at Science North.