Christa McAuliffe According to "The New York Times", she "emphasized the impact of ordinary people on history, saying they were as important to the historical record as kings, politicians or generals." In 1984, President Ronald Reagan announced the Teacher in Space Project, and Christa learned about NASA's efforts to find their first civilian, an educator, to fly into space. NASA wanted to find an "ordinary person," a gifted teacher who could communicate with students while in orbit. McAuliffe became one of more than 11,000 applicants. NASA hoped that sending a teacher into space would increase public interest in the Space Shuttle program,
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