By Ashlyn Kelly
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FRAMINGHAM – Friday marked the 36th anniversary of the death of Framingham native Christa Corrigan McAuliffe, the first teacher in space.
The Christa McAuliffe Library branch on Water Street, which is named after the late Framingham resident, held a moment of silence to mark the death of McAuliffe from 11:39 to 11:40 a.m. – roughly the time when the NASA U.S. Space Shuttle Challenger exploded in space, 73 seconds after it launched.
Earlier in the week, the staff at the library tied yellow ribbons in the grove behind the Nobscot library branch. There is a display honoring McAuliffe permanently in the branch library.
Friday afternoon, January 28, from 4 to 7 p.m. the library branch hosted a program called “From Mission Control to the Moon” for students in grades 4-7.
The program was part of the branch library’s Space & Exploration Week. Held in partnership with the Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center for Integrated Science Learning at Framingham State University (the McAuliffe Center), students were able to complete warm-up missions to practice their communication skills and then simulate launching a rocket and landing it on the moon.
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The program was led by Jillian Holmberg, the children’s librarian at the McAuliffe Branch, as well as Irene Porro, director of the McAuliffe Center, Evan Pagliuca, assistant director of the McAuliffe Center, and Suzanne Wright, Coordinator of Programs and Communication for the McAuliffe Center.
The simulation software was developed during the COVID-19 pandemic by the Challenger Center in partnership with Blue Origin.
A video is featured in the simulation where Adam Wuerl, director of Advanced Concepts & Strategy at Blue Origin, briefs the users on the mission.
According to Pagliuca, the simulation has the students “working in teams and they have a set number of tasks that they’ll do so they’ll follow some instructions.
“Some of them are tracking storms, making sure there’s no storm nearby as they’re launching,” he added. “Other ones are planning for the rocket’s separation, and then the engine firing to have the spacecraft land.”
Throughout the week, the branch library had a green screen for patrons to take photos with a background to make them look like they were in space. The photos will be posted on the branch’s Facebook page.
Porro said it is important to carry on the legacy of Christa McAuliffe because “all of us can be educators and help our children to learn about the world.
“She really understood that young people – we want them to have all kinds of experiences so that they can really form their interest and their future path,” said Porro. “It’s really about helping young children to go along.”
The Space Shuttle Challenger was sent to space with a mission to deploy a communications satellite and study Halley’s Comet while they were in orbit 36 years ago on Jan. 28. On board as part of the crew was the first teacher in space Christa Corrigan McAuliffe. The shuttle exploded only 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard.
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Christa Corrigan McAuliffe grew up in Framingham, and graduated from the former Marian High School and then Framingham State College. She was a high school social studies teacher in Concord, New Hampshire at the time of her death, after she was selected in 1985 by NASA to be the first teacher in space, from more than 11,000 applications.
In 2018, NASA released McAuliffe’s lost lessons.
The library branch is not the only building named after McAuliffe in the City of Framingham. There is the center at Framingham State University and also the Christa McAuliffe Charter School, a regional public charter school for students in grades 6-7-8.
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Ashlyn Kelly is a Spring 2022 SOURCE intern. She is a is a senior communication arts major with minors in political science and journalism at Framingham State University. When she is not writing an article, you can usually find her in a theatre.
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PHOTOS BY ASHLYN KELLY
MetroWest Medical Center