Teacher in Space Project Teacher in Space Project The Teacher in Space Project (TISP) was a NASA program announced by Ronald Reagan in 1984 designed to inspire students, honor teachers, and spur interest in mathematics, science, and space exploration. The project would carry teachers into space as Payload Specialists (non-astronaut civilians), who would return to their classrooms to share the experience with their students. NASA cancelled the program in 1990, following the death of its first participant, Christa McAuliffe, in the Space Shuttle "Challenger" disaster (STS-51-L) on January 28, 1986. NASA replaced Teachers in Space in 1998 with the Educator Astronaut Project, which required
Steven J. McAuliffe by the United States Senate on October 8, 1992, and received commission on October 10, 1992. He served as Chief Judge from 2004 to 2011. He assumed senior status on April 1, 2013. McAuliffe continues to serve as a founding director for the Challenger Center for Space Science Education. He has two children, Scott and Caroline, with his first wife, Christa; they were 9 and 6, respectively, when she died in 1986. In early 1992, he married Kathleen E. Thomas, a reading teacher for the Concord School District, and mother of two children. Steven J. McAuliffe Steven James McAuliffe (born