Read highlights of Education Week’s coverage of the federal Teacher-in-Space program since its inception in 1984.
Jacob Komissar, an 8th grader at the McAuliffe Regional Charter Public Middle School in Framingham, Mass., works on a class project marking the 25th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger disaster, which took the life of teacher Christa McAuliffe.
Teacher-astronaut Christa McAuliffe, who died along with the six other crew members in the 1986 Challenger explosion, continues to inspire educators and students.
Barbara Morgan will be cheered on by more than half of the educators who competed for the chance to fly in the doomed space shuttle Challenger two decades ago.
When the U.S. space agency pinned badges on the 11 newest members of its astronaut corps this winter, it also increased by three its cadre of educator astronauts.
Once Barbara R. Morgan enters orbit, she'll be monitoring pictures of Earth, preparing astronauts to walk in space, and eventually assisting the space shuttle's flight team as it lands the craft.
For the second time in its history, America's space agency will begin recruiting teachers to fly into space and conduct lessons for schoolchildren nationwide.
NASA plans to launch a new type of astronaut, "the educator mission specialist," who has completed the same rigorous training as astronauts with specialties in engineering, physics, or medicine.
NASA charged the 112 teachers who were also in the running for Christa McAuliffe's seat on the Challenger with carrying the vision of space discovery back to their home states.
For Susan Darnell Ellis, NASA's teacher-in-space program offered her a way out of rural western Kentucky, where she was born and bred, went to school and college, and started her teaching career.
In tapping Idaho schoolteacher Barbara R. Morgan to become a full-fledged astronaut, NASA opened the space-faring profession to educators to a degree never before seen.
Seven years after the Challenger disaster, NASA continues to face the difficult political question of whether it will—or even should—honor its commitment to again fly a professional educator aboard the orbiter.
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