40 Years Ago: Reagan Introduces NASA’s Teacher in Space Initiative

In a historical announcement made on August 27, 1984, President Ronald W. Reagan introduced the Teacher in Space project, a part of NASA’s Space Flight Participant Program. The aim was to expand the space shuttle experience to private citizens who could then communicate their experiences to the broader public. This initiative was primarily focused on educators, highlighting the crucial role that teachers play in society. From a pool of 11,000 teacher applicants, each U.S. state and territory selected two nominees, culminating in a total of 114 candidates. Following a thorough review process, which included interviews and medical evaluations, the candidates were narrowed down to 10 finalists. Eventually, a senior review panel recommended S. Christa McAuliffe as the prime Teacher in Space, with Barbara R. Morgan as her backup. Unfortunately, McAuliffe’s dreams of teaching from space were tragically cut short by the Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986.

During an award ceremony for outstanding public secondary schools, President Reagan announced the Teacher in Space project, emphasizing the importance of carrying private citizens into space. His announcement highlighted the role of educators in shaping the nation’s future and directed NASA to select a teacher as the first citizen passenger in space. The goal was to remind America of the significant contributions of teachers and education.

Later that day, NASA Administrator James M. Beggs provided further details in a news conference at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He explained that although a teacher would be the first to participate, future selections would include journalists, poets, and artists. NASA released an Announcement of Opportunity on November 8, outlining the requirements for teacher applicants and setting a target launch date for early 1986. Approximately 11,000 applications were received by the February 1, 1985, deadline. The selection process was coordinated by the Council of Chief State School Officers, working with various review panels. On May 3, the 114 nominees were announced, each representing a U.S. state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Departments of Defense and State overseas schools, and Bureau of Indian Affairs schools.

The nominees attended a workshop in Washington, D.C., from June 22-27, which focused on space education. Even those not selected would serve as space ambassadors for NASA. Each nominee met with the National Review Panel, which selected the 10 finalists announced on July 1.

The 10 finalists spent the week of July 7 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston. They underwent medical and psychological examinations, toured the facilities, and experienced weightlessness on the KC-135 aircraft. After a brief stop at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the finalists spent July 15-17 in Washington, D.C., undergoing interviews with the NASA Space Flight Participant Committee. This committee recommended the Teacher in Space candidate and a backup to NASA Administrator Beggs.

On July 19, the 10 finalists gathered in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. Vice President George H.W. Bush announced the winners: S. Christa McAuliffe, a high school social studies teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, and her backup, Barbara R. Morgan, a second-grade teacher from McCall, Idaho. The other eight finalists continued to participate in the project by helping to develop McAuliffe’s lesson plans.

McAuliffe and Morgan reported to JSC on September 9, 1985, to begin training for their space shuttle mission. They were assigned to STS-51L, scheduled for January 1986. They met their fellow crewmates: Commander Francis R. “Dick” Scobee, Pilot Michael J. Smith, and Mission Specialists Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A. Resnik, and Ronald E. McNair. Gregory B. Jarvis, a Hughes Aircraft engineer, joined the crew as a second payload specialist in October. McAuliffe and Morgan received basic orientation, including fitting for their flight suits and tasting space food. For the next four months, they trained with the rest of the crew on shuttle systems, emergency evacuation drills, and completed flights aboard T-38 jets and the KC-135 weightless aircraft.

During her flight, McAuliffe planned to conduct two live lessons from space and record film for six demonstrations. The first lesson, “The Ultimate Field Trip,” aimed to allow students to compare daily life aboard the shuttle versus on Earth. The second lesson, “Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going, Why?” would explain the reasons for exploring space and utilizing its unique environment for manufacturing certain products. The six filmed demonstrations covered topics such as magnetism, Newton’s Laws, effervescence, simple machines and tools, hydroponics, and chromatographic separation, focusing on how these phenomena behave in weightlessness.

To prepare for the upcoming launch, McAuliffe and Morgan traveled to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida to witness the liftoff of the STS-61A Spacelab D1 mission, the last flight of space shuttle Challenger before STS-51L, on October 30. The entire STS-51L crew returned to Florida for the January 8, 1986, Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT), a dress rehearsal for the actual countdown to launch. As part of the TCDT, the astronauts practiced evacuation drills from the shuttle in case of an emergency. After the test, they returned to Houston to complete last-minute training.

On January 23, the STS-51L crew arrived at KSC for the launch set for January 26. However, bad weather caused a one-day delay, and the crew boarded Challenger but faced issues closing the hatch followed by poor weather, which led to another scrub of the launch attempt. On January 28, the crew returned to the pad in unusually cold weather for Florida and boarded Challenger. This time, the launch took place on schedule.

Following the Challenger disaster, the Teacher in Space project remained active for a period as NASA reevaluated the Space Flight Participant Program. Morgan assumed the role of Teacher in Space designee for a few months, returning to Idaho in the fall of 1986 to resume her teaching duties while maintaining contact with NASA. In 1990, NASA canceled the Teacher in Space project.

In 1998, NASA invited Morgan to join the next astronaut selection group as a full-fledged mission specialist, eligible for multiple flights. That same year, NASA initiated its Educator Astronaut program, selecting qualified teachers as full-time astronauts instead of payload specialists. Morgan reported for training with the rest of the Group 17 astronauts in August 1998. In 2002, NASA assigned her to the STS-118 space station assembly mission, which flew in August 2007 aboard Endeavour, Challenger’s replacement.

In 2004, NASA selected its first Educator Astronauts as part of Group 19: Joseph “Joe” M. Acaba, Richard R. “Rickey” Arnold, and Dorothy “Dottie” M. Metcalf-Lindenburger. Metcalf-Lindenburger flew as a mission specialist aboard the STS-131 space station assembly flight in April 2010. Acaba and Arnold flew together on STS-119 in March 2009. Acaba spent 125 days aboard the space station as an Expedition 31 and 32 flight engineer between May and September 2012, and another 168 days during Expedition 53 and 54 between September 2017 and February 2018. He has served as chief of the astronaut office since February 2023. Arnold made his second flight as a flight engineer during Expedition 55 and 56 from March to October 2018. Between their nearly back-to-back missions, Acaba and Arnold spent the 2017-18 school year aboard the space station for A Year of Education on Station. As a tribute to McAuliffe and her legacy, they completed her mission, filming her demonstrations and developing corresponding lessons for classrooms.

This historical initiative and its subsequent developments reflect NASA’s commitment to involving educators in space exploration and utilizing their unique perspective to inspire and educate future generations.
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