Challenger legacy continues 40 years after the disaster

Families of the Challenger crew created the Challenger Center in 1986 to continue the mission of space education, and the nonprofit now operates 32 centers and estimates it has reached more than 7 million students worldwide.

Forty years after the 1986 loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger, family members of the crew have kept an education-focused mission alive. The flight included teacher Christa McAuliffe as part of a Teacher in Space initiative. Seventy‑three seconds after liftoff on January 28, 1986, the spacecraft was destroyed, and the seven crew members died. In the months that followed, the families established an organization to continue the crew’s aim of inspiring students in science and space. Key points: - The Challenger spacecraft broke apart 73 seconds after launch on January 28, 1986, killing seven crew members including teacher Christa McAuliffe. - Families of the crew founded the Challenger Center for Space Science Education in April 1986 and opened the first center in Houston in 1988. - The Challenger Center now operates 32 centers across the United States, provides virtual experiences and free classroom lesson plans, and estimates it has reached more than 7 million students globally. - To mark the 40th anniversary, the center released seven STEM lesson plans inspired by the crew and has events planned for the spring. - Educator-astronaut pathways continued after Challenger: backup teacher Barbara Morgan later flew on a shuttle mission, and NASA selected teacher-astronauts in later classes such as Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Joseph Acaba and Richard Arnold. Summary: The families transformed a loss into an educational nonprofit that aims to give students immersive STEM experiences and simulated space missions. The Challenger Center’s programs and new lesson plans are part of ongoing efforts to keep the crew’s educational goals visible. The organization reports broad reach and has scheduled anniversary events this spring. Undetermined at this time: how specific future programming will tie to upcoming missions such as Artemis II.