As the nation’s attention turns back to the fractured debate over immigration, it might be helpful to remember that in 1986, Ronald Reagan signed a sweeping immigration reform bill into law.
It was sold as a crackdown: There would be tighter security at the Mexican border, and employers would face strict penalties for hiring undocumented workers.
But the bill also made any immigrant who’d entered the country before 1982 eligible for amnesty — a word not usually associated with the father of modern conservatism.
CHRISTA McAULIFFE …. would have celebrated her 66th birthday today.
I remember her joy, I remember her smile, I remember her enthusiasm. I remember where I was, watching the launching of the Challenger that fatal day!Â
On January 28, 1986, the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after launch. After her death, schools and scholarships were named in her honor, and also in 2004 she was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
Today in Mighty Girl history, we remember teacher and Space Shuttle Challenger crew member Christa McAuliffe, who would have celebrated her 66th birthday today. McAuliffe was selected by NASA from more than 11,000 applicants to be part of the Teachers in Space program. Tragically, she and the Challenger’s six other crew members were killed when it exploded during takeoff on January 28, 1986.
As a child, McAuliffe was inspired by space exploration; the day after astronaut John Glenn orbited the Earth, she told a friend at her high school, “Do you realize that someday people will be going to the Moon? Maybe even taking a bus, and I want to do that!” Ultimately, McAuliffe choose to pursue her passion for teaching and accepted a position at Concord High School in New Hampshire in 1982. According to the NY Times, as a history teacher, 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. NASA began seeking out a gifted teacher who could broadcast lessons from space with the goal of fostering public interest in space exploration. McAuliffe applied immediately, writing in her application, “I watched the Space Age being born, and I would like to participate.” Her selection was announced on July 19, 1985, and she began training for time in space and making media appearances, where her enthusiasm and excitement captivated the nation.
Just 73 seconds into McAuliffe’s long-awaited flight, at an altitude of 48,000 feet, the shuttle Challenger exploded; an event witnessed on TV by millions. Though, at the age of 37, her life was cut tragically short, McAuliffe’s legacy lives on today: there are schools, scholarships, grants, and even a moon crater named after her. But we at A Mighty Girl think she’d be happiest to know that students everywhere still dream of touching space; as she said during a media appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,
“If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat. Just get on.”
Music: Reuben Halsey – Where the heart is. This is a Trailer produced by Bobby Russell of QuestForStars for the second video in series of seven which will highlight the life and accomplishments of the Crew of STS-51L Challenger.
Tribute to a Mother, Teacher, Astronaut, and Medal of Honor Winner “America’s Teacher:” Christa McAuliffe
It Is What It Is 