Christa McAuliffe probable the O-rings had not provided a proper seal. Barbara Radding Morgan, her backup, became a professional astronaut in January 1998, and flew on Space Shuttle mission STS-118, to the International Space Station, on August 8, 2007, aboard "Endeavour", the orbiter that replaced "Challenger". McAuliffe was buried at Blossom Hill Cemetery in her hometown, Concord. She has since been honored at many events, including the Daytona 500 NASCAR race in 1986. The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord and the Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center for Education and Teaching Excellence at Framingham State University are named in her memory, as are the
2007 in spaceflight segment of the ISS. It was the first Shuttle to launch from Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center since STS-107 in 2003. Launch had previously been delayed from February due to Hail damage to the External Tank, which required a rollback to repair in the Vehicle Assembly Building. In August, launched on its first mission since 2002, STS-118. This carried the S5 truss segment, and marked the final flight of the Spacehab module, which was used to carry supplies. NASA's first Educator Astronaut, Barbara Morgan flew aboard STS-118. Morgan had previously been a backup for Christa McAuliffe, who was