Steven J. McAuliffe Steven J. McAuliffe Steven James McAuliffe (born March 3, 1948) is a Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. He is the widower of Christa McAuliffe, one of the victims of the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he attended Marian High School in Framingham, where he met his future wife Christa Corrigan. He graduated from Virginia Military Institute with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1970. His wife had his VMI ring with her on the shuttle; his classmates replaced the ring after her death. McAuliffe
Gregory Jarvis McNair, Lt. Col. Ellison Onizuka (USAF), Dr. Judith Resnik, and fellow civilian payload specialist, Christa McAuliffe. The entire STS-51-L crew died on January 28, 1986, when "Challenger" broke up during launch. The remains of all seven astronauts from the "Challenger" disaster were discovered in the crew decks on the ocean floor. Jarvis' body was discovered in the lower mid-deck along with McNair and McAuliffe. During salvage operations to raise the crew deck from the ocean floor, his body escaped from the wreckage, floated to the surface, and disappeared back into the sea. On April 15, 1986, on the last scheduled