Thirty-two years after the space shuttle Challenger disaster, a pair of teachers turned astronauts on the International Space Station will pay tribute to McAuliffe by carrying out her science classes.
As NASA’s first designated teacher in space, McAuliffe was going to experiment with fluids in orbit and demonstrate Newton’s laws of motion for schoolchildren. She and six crewmates were killed during liftoff on Jan. 28, 1986.
Astronauts Joe Acaba (AH-kah-bah) and Ricky Arnold will perform some of McAuliffe’s lessons over the next several months. Acaba will share the news during a TV linkup Friday with students at her alma mater, Framingham State University near Boston.
Acaba returns to Earth at the end of February. Arnold flies up in March