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• , of tion Turns into of _ News Service Reports New York and American stock ex- off. "A real shock wave of grief has co- high school English teacher and one of two have it - IB basic, "fundamental research/'

Jubilation turned to horror across the changes 5planne; d a minute of silenc4 e at 11 vered the entire city," said City Manager finalists from Tennessee. ''Before, I said I he said. "It's not to put the butcher, the natiop as Americans cheering for the coun- 'a.m- _v* . T^j'toda*"'y *i n 'remembranc *&* tf^ e ottb*"ki/"e crewM '" *. James C. Smith. would go in a minute...without a thought* baker and candlestick-maker up there." try's first civilian astronaut watched the In Washington, National Education At McCormick Junior High School in Nobody would say that now." Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Chuck shuttle Challenger explode on live televi- President Mary Hatwood Futrell ex- Cheyenne, Wyo.» science teacher Michael Veterans of the space program rallied to Yeager, whose breaking of the sound bar- sion Tuesday in the world's worst space pressed shock and sorrow at the disaster Pearson said he was in "total shock." defend the space program and said it rier was portrayed in the book and movie catastrophe. that killed ssvea astronauts, including "It's like getting a message your whole should continue. "The Right Stuff," said: "When you have an At the White House, President Reagan teacher Christa McAiiliffe.* But she also family was killed/' said Pearson, one of the Sen. John Glenn, D-Qhio, the first Ameri- accident like this, it doesn't mean the end wordlessly viewed video replays of the voiced the hope that the National Aeronau- more than 100 teacher semifinalists who can to orbit the earth, said he felt "a pro- of everything. You've got to fall back and Challenger ttplosloo. Watching the launch tics and Space A(JminlstratI6n will send competed against McAuliffe to be the first found, personal sense of loss" over the take a look. The main thing is to analyze in family quarters, first lady Nancy Rea- another teacher into spape soon. , ordinary citizen to fly into space. death of the Challenger's seven crew mem- the data and go oij from there." gan exclaimed, "Ob my God, no!" "I would hope that the lessons that But he added, "I still think I'd take the bers in a fiery explosion over the Atlantic. Yeager, of Grass Valley, Calif., said he In Houston, Mission Control workers Christa planned to teach will be taught..., I very next one up." Asked by reporters whether the NASA expects NASA to return for a time to its clutched each other in tears* think that's what Christa would want," she However, another teacher had second should continue to give civilians seats oh past policy of limiting space travel to Several states flew flags at half-staff said. . -'""'' .'."" '' thoughts about being an astronaut. the shuttle, Glenn said, "Oh, I don't know. I trained government astronauts, but even- and legislatures drafted statements honor- In Concord, N.H., McAuliffe's home* "I realize now that I have a lot to lose/' wasn't a big proponent of that. tually to open up crews to others "because

ing the seven astronauts who perished* town,* thousands'•*_... watche. d-7 th* eI televise- • - d lift- said Bonnie Fakes of Lebanon, Tenn., a "The space program — the reason we the shuttle is 1 public program." , Families and

News Service Reports and Space Administration official then and hometown friends of the as- walked up to them and said, 'The vehicle tronauts aboard the space shuttle Chal- has exploded." lenger grieved Tuesday over the "tragedy A stunned Grace Corrigan said, "the ve- of Hall" but found solace in the knowledge hicle has exploder V, . . that the seven-member crew died while The official nodded his head, and the reaching for the stars. Corrigans were quickly led away. For some, there were no words to ac- Froi Fujin#t0ra friend of Qnizuka's, company the tears. Others spoke at length was on the reviewing stand with the astro- of the ambitions and abilities that qualified naut's mother and brothers and* sisters. the astronauts for a trip to space. "The shuttle went up, and all of a sudden Killed in the Challenger crash were New we saw a big explosion," he, said. "There : Hampshire social studies teacher Christa was a lot of smoke. It was hard to see what McAuliffe, Michael Smith, Francis Scobee/ happened. There was just one big explo- Judith Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, Arnold McNair and Gregory Jarvis, , Also at the launch site was Dr. Charles $en. Jake Gam, R-Utah, who flew a shut- Reshick, *ho teaches at the Medical Col- tle mission last year, traveled to the Ken* lege .of Virginia in Richmond. • • '• »V«V ' ' *m$•.•,mt---f?. %>*&.m . ' • • nedy Space Center with Vice President His sister, Judy, was to take a signet ring George Bush and met with the families of and heart looket into space for her 5-year- Challenger's crew. old nephew, Randy, and 2-year-old niece, Ljate Tuesday night, Gam emerged from Becky, said Dellana O'Brien, a principal at the;meeting and said Scobee's wife, June, Randy's kindergarten. ".,*'"' speaking for all of the families, asked that • -^•^ • . • *\ . ~ ^ • , rt-v "The kindergarten children were not ^^'•S-^SM^if-^f^ the tragedy not be allowed to harm the •-W .... ' ••' -.:*.. told (of the crash) before they left at 12:30," future of the space program. •Xv:->:. :-x->:*.tt:£x*:-;> -:>x-:v:v l&rlier in the day, Gam fought back the principal said. "It happened so close to dismissal time we didn't have time to help tears at the news of the Challenger explo- them work through their grief," sion. _ i [It's a bit difficult for me, to say the Matthew Brown, McNair's sixth-grade least. These were my friends," Garn told math and science teacher and now a school reporters. . , official in his hometown of Lake City, &C., The Rev. Wilbur Teachey of Beaufort, said hejearned of the accident while listen- N,Cf., who knew Smith as a parishioner, ing to the radio on his way home to lunch. .-'.:• • ¥ • said the risks never dissuaded Smith from "Everybody is at grief right now," he v:;::.yOhio, from the grandstands. said news of the explosion stunned the AP Loserphoto The Framingham, Mass., couple stood in school Tuesday morning. shocked silence as a loudspeaker broadcast Resnik, he said, was a "very quiet young Members of Christa McAuliffe's family react in horror Tuesday after the space shuttle explosion. From left are the terrible news. A National Aeronautics lady, but an outstanding student/' McAuliffe's sister Betsy and McAuliffe's parents, Grace and Ed Corrigan. House Panel World Shares Americans' Sorrow said. :.X United Press International !«>:-..••,. >,Vi ' World leaders expressed shock and sorrow over the explosion Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney said he asked U.S. Plans Probe of the space shuttle Challenger Tuesday, and videotape of the Ambassador Thomas Niles to convey Canada's "great grief at fiery blast was broadcast on television networks around the the tragedy that has just struck the Unked States, a terrible loss globe. Newspapers Wednesday threw out domestic news to ban- in remarkably tragic circumstances." ner the disaster. In Paris, the state-run television network interrupted national Disaster "Space Horror," the Sydney Daily Mirror bannered in a black broadcasts for about 10 minutes to show videotape of the explo- headline spread across the page. The Daily Mail in Britain sion. Staff and News Service Reports headlined: "Spaceship disaster — Teacher dies living the Ameri- French President Francois Mitterrano, K a telegram to Rea- ; WASHINGTON - While shaken by the can dream" over a half-page picture of civilian victim Christa gan, said, "The French people felt, at the announcement of the space shuttle tragedy, congressmen frdm McAuliffe. explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, a profound emotion Central New York reaffirmed their com- "This is a black hour for manned space flight," West German's and sincere compassion for the astronauts aboard." mitment to the nation's space program Minister of Research and Technology Heinz Riesenhuber said. Patrick Baudry, the French astronaut who traveled to space Tuesday even as the chairman of a House Japan said it might postpone its 1988 manned space program aboard the shuttle Discovery in June, said, "I think the sacrifice committee said he plans an investigation pending an investigation by U.S. space officials. of my friends who were on board today will not be for nothing. into the disaster. In Moscow, Soviet television showed the explosion on its There have been other accidents before. They have all served The House Science and Technology Com- nightly news, and Polish television used the disaster to attack the some purpose." mittee, which has jurisdiction over the Na- Fil« Photo U.S. "Star Wars" program for a space-based nuclear defense. Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi telephoned Reagan and tional Aeronautics and Space Administra- REP: GEORGE WORTLEY There was no reaction from the Kremlin, but the Soviet am- expressed "his deepest condolences and sympathies," the Press tion, will probe the fatal explosion of the 'Shock and Sadness' bassador to the United Nations, Vasily Safronchuk, relayed his Trust of India news agency said. space shuttle Challenger once the federal * * mission's "deep sorrow" and "deepest sympathy." At least four King Hussein of Jordan sent a cable to Reagan asking the agency completes its own investigation, "'Life is either a daring adventure or Soviet cosmonauts are known to have been killed in spaceflight president to convey Jordan's sorrow to the families of the seven said committee chairman Donald Fuqua, nothing,'" he said. "As long as man has the disasters since the history of the Soviet program. people aboard.Challenger. p-Fla, thirst for knowledge we will continue to IrisfrPrime Minister Garret Fitzgerald and President Patrick Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone said the explo- ' Such a congressional probe is warranted, press outward. And in the process there is Hillery sent telegrams to President Reagan expressing condo- sion was "regrettable" and that Japan's manned space project Sep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-Utica, a mem- risk. That risk is taken by each one of us lences over the explosion of the shuttle, which had a crew of scheduled for 1988 may be postponed pending investigations by bet1 of the House committee, agreed. every day, and that risk is understood by seven. ' U.S. authorities. ''What you're going to see is the most all the members of a crew who climb into a "The Irish people and government share the profound shock The disaster shocked Japan's government-financed National serious, thorough investigation possible by loaded spaceship." and sadness of the American people at the tragic accident to the Space Development Agency, which has chosen its first astronaut the government," Boehlert said. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., space shuttle Challenger and the loss of its crew," Fitzgerald and two substitute fliers for its manned space project. Fuqua, Boehlert and other committee called Tuesday's disaster "a shocking com- • members insisted that a House probe does ment and a horrible reminder of the cour- notimply that congressmen lack confi- age and dedication of the men and women President Pays Homage to Challenger's Crew dence in NASA's ability to investigate the who venture into space." , '. * • ^ disaster, nor does it mean that congres- Rep. George Wortley, R-£ayettevUle, (Continued from Page A-l) moveB d and impressed us for decades and continued. "And so I'm confident that there sipnal oversight of the space program has "I've always had great faith in and re- said, "I share the shock and sadness of all we kno 4w of your anguish/ " the president will be no flight until they are absolutely as bee•^ n lax. • Americans over the loss of the brave Chal- spect for our space program. And what said." We share it.'" certain as a human being can be that it is } fiep. Harold Volkmer, D-Mo,, said he had lenger crew. The crew members will be happened today does nothing to diminish White House spokesman Larry Speakes safe/' no doubt the space program would con- remembered in history with America's it/' Reagan said. told reporters he had not heard the presi- In this meeting Reagan said he did not tinue, although he predicted Congress will greatest heroes." " ....We'll continue our quest in space. dent "express any regret" he had sent the expect a public backlash against the space re-view the decision to allow civilians Wortley and Boehlert professed their There will be more shuttle flights and Challenger on its unsuccessful mission. program because of the tragedy. aboard the shuttles. continued support of the space program. more shuttle crews and yes, more volun- "Concern, yes; deep emotion, yes; sor- "We have accidents in every line of Rep. Mervin pymally, D-Calif., head of "The space program has been very bene* teers, more civilians, more teachers in row, yes — but regret is not that," Speakes transportation, and we don't do away with the congressional science and technology to mankind," Boehlert said. space. Nothing ends here. Our hopes and said in reaffirming Reagan's support of the those things," Reagan said. "They've prob- caucus, said NASA seems to be "too rigid Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Ma$s», recalled our journeys continue." program. ably got a better safety record (in the space with their schedule. I think they put them- the words of his late brother, President In his speech the president voiced his Meeting with television reporters for program) than we have on the highways." sejves under too much pressure," John Kennedy, on America's first manned grief for "the tragedy of the shuttle Chal- what had been scheduled as a briefing on Reagan, who was described by aides as ^ In the meantime, It was a day of sorrow spaceflight: "It will not be one, man going lenger" but expressed his confidence in the State of the Union address, Reagan said somber and silent during much of the day, op .Capitol Hill as elsewhere across the to ther; moon — it will be an entire na- those in charge of the U.S. space pro* the space program had seemed so safe said "I can't get out of my mind" the hus- cpuntry, Ucn.' ._..,, ;. gram. after 56 flights that Americans had "gotten band and children of Christa McAuliffe, the ^ Rep. Bill Nelson, D*Fla., who flew this "Seven brave astronauts, pursuing that " ...I wish I could talk to every man and a little impatient when some flights had teacher killed with six other shuttle crew rabpth, gave a speech on the Rouse floor, dream were apparently killed today - and woman who works for NASA or who been aborted and.Jt seems as if they were members Tuesday in the Challenger explo- his voice straining, but not breaking, and our entire nation has been wounded," Ken- worked on this mission and tell them, 'Your taking things too seriously. sion. He had planned to mention her in his Helen Keller's writing. nedy said. dedication and professionalism have "Now we know they weren't/' Reagan State of the Union speech. THE POST-STANDARD/Wednesday, Jan. 29,1986/PAG* A-5

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By ELIZABETH DORAN And STEVE GARLIC Alone in his West Genesee High School It's a terrible tragedy classroom, science teacher Michael Cost skipped lunch to watch what could have and so unexpected. been his rocket ride to fame. Instead, My first reaction was I he saw another teacher's flight to disas- ter. thought to myself, Cost was one of several Central New 'Would I go up'?' But York teachers who applied to be the first teacher to ride into orbit aboard the ill- this doesn't change fated space shuttle Challenger. my opinion one bit. I'd Nationwide, more than 10,000 people vied to become the first teacher in space. It be willing to go up to- was an honor that went to Christa McAu- morrow. liffe of (toward, N.H. In the aftermath of Tuesday's tragedy,

fnt "•"• V" i^^HM^^^^^^^^^^^K^". local teachers said they would have no — Noel Van Swo•l .: H..:..;...... ,...... vv ^v.v^..:***^^^ qualms about applying again. Cost, who watched the horror unfold iq a East Syracuse-Minoa teacher Z&&&M&&& wmmm&jmm£&&& flash of television blue, said he was | shocked speechless. .-.'.. :•>.•:• .•:•.- :->:->>.-:%w!w>?»yoc*>xWwOHA•.*.'*> Later, he said he played a videotape of shuttle because she has an interest in space research and because she thinks an art the disaster for his 12th-grade advanced : & Si.* :$£:£ • i i • ii - * i p i ^ biology class. teacher would have been a good choice for the mission. She said she was pleased, how-; *• "The kids sort of wandered in the room : UPI Telephoto while I was watching it, and there was sort ever, when McAuliffe was selected to fly> •* Concord, N.H. High School students kneel in prayer at St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church during a special service of a stunned silence," Cost said. "Then they "She was.a* perfect choice," Metevia ; for Concord teacher Christa McAuliffe, who died in Tuesday's explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. talked in short, terse statements. My stu- said. "I hoped they would pick somebody * * with the right stuff — somebody sparkling, - dents expressed concerns about the delay and wondered if the takeoff might have somebody with appeal, somebody with alT ' been rushed. They wondered if sabotage of the things it takes to be a good* could have been involved. They also ex- teacher." Risk Didn't Frighten Her pressed concern for the woman's children. Noel Van Swol, 43, a teacher at East. r "Being a teacher, I can picture how kids Syracuse-Minoa High School, said, "It's a ^ • New York Times learned where everything was: the gal- would feel watching that. This was such a terrible tragedy and so unexpected. My "It's such a quantum leap from what ley, sleeping quarters, hatches, toilet. symbolic flight. Here you have all these first reaction was I thought to myself; : my life has been like," Christa McAuliffe They went through an adult kind of children all over watching this, and what 'Would I go up?' But this doesn't change my" • was saying. A frown shadowed her brow. "potty" training. They learned to oper- do they see? opinion one bit. I'd be willing to go ftp. It was the frown of recurring disbelief, ate the television camera, which was to "I'm not so sure how deep an impact this tomorrow. be used in the lessons McAuliffe would "It's a shock and a national tragedy. Bdr; not of worry. has on them," he said. "They understand k So much had. happened since July, have conducted. the personal tragedy. But I know exactly any astronauts and volunteers who wanted" 1^^'^^^^ when she was chosen from 11,000 school- i.--:-.^ After a few weeks, McAuliffe joined where I was when John F. Kennedy was to fly aboard the shuttle were aware of the * '* teacher applicants to be the first "pri- the full crew for simulations of critical shot, and I don't think they'll remember risks and were willing to make the sa6rl- ^ vate citizen" to fly in space. There was phases of the flight. "I was just there to exactly where they were when the space fices. With any pioneering thing like this,"; the White House ceremony, the oh- see how to keep out of the way and see shuttle blew up." risks are always involved," he said. " V what kinds of problems might occur. You At Lakeland Elementary School, fourth-- ; slaughfc of reporters and television cam- Cost, 32, said the younger children were : eras, the hometown parade.' - get used to the lights and buzzers that go curious about it and wanted to see the grade teacher Richard Lauricella, 48, saiicf Then came the exchange of her high off, so you won't panic when they dp." videotape teplay. As of mid-afternoon, he he saw the explosion on the noon news. The school classroom for the high-tech simu- Even though McAuliffe was the first said, no announcement had been made at children who heard about it, he said, "told; • lators at Houston's Johnson Space Cen- "citizen" passenger, other non-astro- the school and he didn't think many stu- me I was lucky." _ J;'' - ter and the moment she stood on the nauts have made flights, including Sen. dents knew about it. Nonetheless, he plans to reapply. "It's launching pad at Cape Canaveral and got Jake Garn, a member of a commit- He added that he couldn*t believe the very tragic, but no matter what you do, ' a close look at the space shuttle Chal- ;h In tee that oversees NASA, an Arab prince tragedy happened with McAuliffe on whether it's the space program or another ' and a Mexican engineer, who went along adventure, you still have adversity. That's, lenger, which was to carry, her, a 37-' board. "It's a real strange quirk of fate that ? year-old teacher from Concord, N.H., with payloads for their countries. Gre- the teacher was there. Here you obviously the chance you take.!' T into orbit. gory Jarvis, a Hughes Aircraft engineer, have a very dedicated teacher, and some- Eagle Hill Middle School science teacher'; "It just didn't hit home that the y 0:.v.-:-.- was also on the flight with McAuliffe. thing like, this has to happen that-day. It's Gloria-Mabie, 48, said: "It was just like the'; rockets are going to go off and I'm going, :V-:%-;;.;. "The things we go through are what unfair in a lot'of ways." bottom fell out. I was extremely shocked " to be 200 miles up in space. It still doesn't any ordinary person could go through," For Barbarajean Metevia, an art and felt absolutely terrible.-! didn't feel/' McAuliffe said during a training break. 'Thank God I wasn't selected/ I felt it see,.m «possible,r " the mother of tw•••:•"•*.•o :t-\±re- teacher at two elementary schools in Wa- called. for the flight, was Barbara Radding Civilians cannot have a chronic condi- tertown who applied for the mission, the would have been better if it had been nie/ Yet, by all accounts, McAuliffe had Morgan, a 34-year-old second-grade tion, such as diabetes, that might disrupt tragedy had a special impact. As a kind of She has such young children." teacheriroih'lM^lall, Idaho. ^the mission, but their medical examina- Mabie said she talked with two eighth- ; handled the quantum leap with aplomb family joke, her husband and children for ;; and delight. She had just experienced Although Christa had no idea why she tions are not nearly as stringent as those months had carried on as if she had been grade science classes, and the explosibn weightlessness: the KC-135 climbed to a was selected, the wholesome, family- for shuttle pilots. Sight and hearing can selected instead of McAuliffe. was all they wanted to discuss. "I don't crest and then went into a headlong oriented, small-town aspect of her back- be less than perfect, muscles need not be For instance, whenever McAuliffe ap- think I've ever seen our students so washed*"' plunge. There she was, walking on the ground surely was appealing to image- athletic. peared on television in a news report about out. They're really upset. They've all be- ceiling, then floating in the cabin like Su- conscious NASA. .She herself called Con- McAuliffe was a sturdy woman, 128 the Challenger's upcoming mission, Mete- come a little invested in the program'. I perman. The experience can be euphoric cord a "Norman Rockwell kind of pounds and 5 feet 6 inches tall. Although via's husband would announce that watched Challenger being launched at tjie and sometimes nauseating, which is why place." she ran a few miles most days, she said "Mommy" was in the news again and that end of October, and I shared all that infor-; • the training plane is called the "vomit Sharon Christa Corrigan was born she worried about her stamina in the se- "Mommy," and not McAuliffe, was count- mation with them. When you build them iip* comet." Her trainers said she came Sept. 2,1948, in Boston. After receiving lection competition: "I wanted to make ing down the days for liftoff. like this, and for it to end in disaster. through like a fully fledged astronaut. her bachelor's degree in 1970, she taught sure I didn't fall off the treadmill." Metevia, 35, wanted to ride in the space Some of the kids had tears in their eyes."[ •' This had pleased McAuliffe. The American history in Maryland, where She professed to have no fear of the teacher who had arrived at the space she lived with her husband, Steven mission: "I realize there is a risk outside center with some apprehension — would McAuliffe. When he completed law your everyday life, but it doesn't frighten the regular astronauts dismiss her as school and she earned a master's degree me." Still, her life.insurance policy had extra baggage? — was being accepted. in education, they moved to Concord, been canceled. Even so, she was under no illusions. She where he established a law practice and For McAuliffe, the hardest adjust- Lesson in Tragedy might have dressed and trained like an she taught high school. In her history ment was the separation from her fam- astronaut, but she had insisted that she course, colleagues said, she taught that ily. Once they visited her, touring the ,v space center and meeting astronauts. remain a teacher first. • the experience of ordinary people is as Any doubt about this was dispelled at proper a subject as the chronicles of When Mc^uliffe asked her two children For Young Students lunch one day when a waitress asked for wars and politicians. what they liked most, Caroline singled her autograph. Christa complied, laugh- This may have been key to her selec- out the tuna fish in the cafeteria, and By PATRICIA CAPPON the others in her class asked Nastri if ing. "When I do many of these," she said, tion. NASA wanted someone to impart Scott mentioned the batting cage down Around noontime, math lab teacher could watch the news with her. "I felt sorry "it reminds me of writing hall passes the human side of space travel. In her the street, "In a way it's good that kids do Mary Anne Nastri learned the awful truth. for the teacher's students because, if it in school." application, McAuliffe said she would that," she said. "Why should a 9-year-old As she told her class, her eyes filled with were their parents, they wouldn't want, The National Aeronautics-and Space keep a diary in which she would "human- and a 6-year-old be in awe?" tears, tears that never fell. The children them to die," Shoots said.., " • r Administration expects to include pri- ize" the experience: "I want to demystify On the sixth day of the mission, McAu- saw them anyway. As news of the tragedy reached them, vate citizens on other flights to commu- NASA and space flight." liffe was to televise two lessons for stu- "I told them there had been a terrible other teachers began flipping on the televi- nicate the space experience from non- Although she would not divulge the dents in classrooms across the country. tragedy," Nastri said. "I explained that a sion sets. Small hands shot up in Joanr Vi- technical perspectives. Applications are diary's contents until after her flight, the In the first, called "The Ultimate Field teacher had been with the crew, and that lello's third-grade class. Nine-year-old being reviewed for a journalist to be the account will no doubt reflect her im- Trip," McAuliffe was to give a tour of the after it went up, it exploded. They said, William Shanahan asked his teacher, second citizen passenger, probably on a pressions of training. When she arrived shuttle and discuss, the astronauts' jobs. The second, "Where We've Been, Where 'That could have been one of our teach- whether the space shuttle had sped beyond. flight next fall. In time, poets, painters, at the Johnson Space Center, she and ers.' " gravity's grasp. What about the astronaut's' laborers, musicians and others will get Barbara Morgan were issued their flight We're Going, Why?" would have exa- In this way, solemn voices carried word families? What about McAuliffe's stu- to fly. gear. All dressed up, they met the shuttle mined the motivations and uses of space of Challenger's grim flight to the class- dents? 1.; In August 1984, President Reagan de- crew and had their official pictures exploration. The Public Broadcasting rooms of Danforth Magnet School on West McAuliffe's smiling face looked out cided the first in the program should be a taken. Service was to transmit the lessons live. Brighton Avenue in Syracuse. from the pages of their Weekly Readers. teacher. In 11-page applications, teach- Francis "Dick" Scobee, the mission "It's good to step outside of the usual Near the end of the day, principal Gene just last week. In class, they had learned i ers explained why they wanted to go into commander, sought to reassure McAu- and look at yourself and your job," Hannah asked all students to stand for a that the first teacher in space would cop-. space and how they would make use of liffe: "No matter what happens on this McAuliffe said one evening. The frown of moment of silence. Until that announce- duct two school lessons from a special the experience. • mission, it's going to be known as the disbelief had vanished. She had laughed ment, teacher Jon Holloway had chosen classroom on the shuttle. The Council of Chief State School Offi- teacher mission. We feel that's good, be- at herself, the teacher she saw in some not to tell his third-graders about the failed ".It seems so sad because one was.a; cers, with NASA, selected 114 teachers cause people will remember what we pictures who was in an airplane doing launch. He knew too few details, he said, teacher," said third-grader Jessica Hund- to interview. The field was narrowed to do." things astronauts do. "But I'll be ready to get back to teaching. Kids have a won- and. was unsure whether the news would ley. "She taught social studies, and she 10; after medical and psychological tests Then the teachers listened¥ to hours of upset the children. wanted to teach her kids by going up in and more interviews, McAuliffe came briefings and were given a pile of work- derful way of bringing you back to real- Nastri knew there would be a televised space. I feel bad for the other people in the. out on top. Runner-up, and her backup books. .In a mockup of the cabin, they ity." replay. Ten-year-old Margaret Shoots and shuttle. They probably had kids, too.!' . The Cheers Turned to Silence in Classrooms across the Country • News Service Reports Only the sound of NASA reports from the "Hush down," he began uncertainly. for the day and later canceled today's ses- schoolchildren and teachers was extraordi*-; CONCORD, N.H. - Within seconds, a television filled the room as the students "What we're seeing is, apparently, it's hard sion to allow the staff to meet with school nary, and it suggested the range of their and teachers sat stunned, news television to believe, but it looks like those people counselors. Some pupils sought help from feelings.— from jealousy that they were party died in silence as hundreds of Christa not part of the mission before the flight McAuliffe's friends, students and col- cameras filming their shock. have just exploded in mid-air." counselors Tuesday to deal with the emo- The scene was repeated in other schools A few moments later he added: "This is tional aftermath of the shuttle's explosion, took off to relief that they were not victiiris leagues watched the shuttle Challenger after the crash occurred, to enormous grief blast off Tuesday and then explode. throughout the nation, where an estimated not some make-believe world, not 'Miami he said. Vice,' not entertainment you're looking at * The McAuliffe loss was the second trag- for the crew and their families. The 37-year-old teacher's long-awaited 2.5 million students viewed the liftoff. ; " / " launch was watched in classrooms School districts in thousands of commun- These people are not coming back. They edy experienced by Concord High School But the identification with McAuliffe throughout Concord High School, where ities had required their students to watch are wherever they are — and the dream since Dec. 12, when a high school dropout was universal. McAuliffe was more th*n she taught social studies and law and the Challenger liftoff and to monitor its that went with them is temporarily gone." armed with a shotgun was killed by police an ordinary astronaut. She was mother, planned to return to teach in the fall. progress over the next week as part of "Some of the kids just turned away from* in a school hallway after tatting two pupils wife and teacher. About 200 pupils and teachers watching Classroom Earth, the first educational pro- the television unable to watch," said hostage. a television set in the auditorium counted gram designed to provide students with a Wayne Peterson, principal of Viking Ele- A/ter the explosion, McAuliffe's col- Dr. William Chambers, director of pedi- down the last 10 seconds to launch and first-hand look at America's space pro- mentary School in Grand Forks, N.D., the leagues stood in shock, and students, whi- atric psychiatry at New York's Columbia* clieered wildly as the shuttle's engines gram. first school in the nation to take part in spered to each other and to themselves, Presbyterian Hospital, agreed that for blasted the craft toward space. Walter Westrum, superintendent of Hall the Young Astronaut program, designed to "This isn't real is it? This can't be happen- children, losing a teacher can sometimes Students continued to cheer and blow High School in Spring Valley, III, and exec- spur interest in space careers. ing?" be almost as significant as the death of a their party horns for only a few seconds, utive director of the project that brought "We have a lot of stunned students all "People were s6 high up and now they're parent. "Each kid extrapolates what it until someone yelled, "Damn it! There's a live pictures of the shuttle to schools all over the'United States," Peterson said. down so low," said 16-year-old Craig Bur- means to him," he said, "but 'with some major malfunction. Shut up so we can over the country, rose to face his stu- At McAuliffe's Concord High School, bank of Concord. kids, it confirms their worst fears that the' hear." dents. Principal Charles Foley dismissed classes The emotional reactions from both black knight wins."