Honestly, I'm surprised that I haven't seen more coverage of the Challenger tragedy in the news or the blogosphere today. It was a pivotal moment in our history, and it seems as if it's being forgotten. With that said, today is the 25th anniversary of the Challenger tragedy. It's hard to believe that I was in grade school when this happened, but I was. I remember watching the launch because Christa McAuliffe, a teacher, was one of the crew members. She was supposed to be the first teacher in space, but instead shared a more ominous fate with the six other NASA astronauts.



Challenger Crew (Courtesy: NASA)

I don't think, at the time at least, that I ever really gave it much thought as to why they were doing what they were doing, just that they died doing it. I certainly don't think Christa McAuliffe went up into space just to be the first teacher in space, though I must admit the challenge in and of itself might have been part of the motivation to do so (it would have been for me). Instead, I think as a teacher, she was doing it to inspire a whole generation of children. As a matter of fact, she was slated to . . . More