Teacher in Space: Christa McAuliffe and the Challenger Legacy [Paperback]

Colin Burgess (Author), Grace George Corrigan (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2000

Christa McAuliffe's name is deeply entrenched in American history as the teacher who died when the Challenger exploded in January 1986. Innovative and devoted to her profession, Christa brought to her own life and to her students the joy and excitement of learning, exploration, and accomplishment. Her integrity and love of life endeared her to people both before and during her NASA training. Honest, direct, and outspoken, she did not hesitate to speak out on behalf of the constituency she felt she had been selected to represent: American public schoolteachers and the children in their classrooms.

It is important to know that Christa's dreams did not die with her. Following the disaster many foundations, institutions, and learning centers were set up to honor the Challenger crew. Craters on the moon and even asteroids have been named in their memory. Teacher in Space explores and celebrates Christa's life and legacy and suggests that her goals of involving and educating children are being fulfilled even today.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Colin Burgess is a customer service manager with Qantas Airlines and the author of a number of books on space flight, including Oceans to Orbit: The Story of Australia's First Man in Space, Dr. Paul Scully-Power. He lives in New South Wales, Australia. Grace George Corrigan makes her home in Framingham, Massachusetts. She continues to speak publicly to perpetuate Christa McAuliffe's commitment to American education.

Product Details

• Paperback: 139 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803261829
• ISBN-13: 978-0803261822
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,356,322 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful and Extremely Well Researched, July 19, 2002

By 

John R. Keller (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teacher in Space: Christa McAuliffe and the Challenger Legacy (Paperback)

While much has been written about the engineering and management decisions that lead up to Challenger explosion, the mission, the Challenger crew and the whole Teacher in Space Program have received much less attention. In this book, the author, Colin Burgess, only devotes a few pages to the accident and focuses primarily on the teacher in space program, Christa McAuliffe, her teaching and NASA experiences and of course the aftermath of the accident. Since the book was written well close to fifteen years after the accident, it avoids much of the sadness, anger and the like which dominated many of the early works on this subject. As a result, the author gives us a wonderful book about the life and times of Christa McAuliffe and the Teacher in Space Program. There is also closing chapter on the next Teacher in Space Candidate, Barbara Morgan, who should fly sometime this decade.

As someone who lives across the street from the Johnson Space Center (JSC), it is quite obvious to me that the author spent a considerable amount of time researching her life and experiences at JSC, since all of the places, buildings, etc., are named correctly (using the names in 1986), located in their proper places and the astronaut training she received is as it should be. In other words, not only are you getting a wonderful well written book, it is also well researched.

One final thing to add, the book contains 32 pages of color pictures and all royalties from the book go to the Christa McAuliffe Fund.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, September 5, 2000

By 

Kate (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teacher in Space: Christa McAuliffe and the Challenger Legacy (Paperback)

As a friend of Colin's, I normally would disqualify myself from reviewing one of his books but I feel that I had to comment on this book.

Colin has done a great job of cutting through the usual American sentimentality whenever the Challenger crew are mentioned and has done a great job in telling us about Christa. However, the book is not just about Christa. The ill fated Teacher in Space program is described in detail as is the launch and the short flight of the Challenger shuttle.

A worthy addition to any space library. Teenagers in particular will like this book.

Kate

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A moving and worthy tribute to a fascinating individual..., October 29, 2000

By 

"space-boy" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teacher in Space: Christa McAuliffe and the Challenger Legacy (Paperback)

This is not the first book written about Christa McAuliffe- but it may well be considered the last word on her. Many previous books have concentrated on the technical aspects of the Challenger explosion that took her life. Others were written about her as a person, but were written so close to the time of the disaster that it was hard for them to be objective and see her life and achievements in their entirety. With the passage of time, it has been possible to set the Teacher In Space Program and Christa's life in their true historical context, and Colin Burgess has here done an admirable job of doing so. The politically-inspired events that led to a teacher being offered a seat on a spacecraft formerly reserved for those with piloting or science tasks to undertake are outlined by Burgess with objectivity and clarity. But what comes through more than anything from this book is the remarkable strength of personality that McAuliffe had, making her the perfect person for a space flight, and how that strength has meant that, even after her death, her plans for space education have gone ahead. It seems that her mission to educate and inspire people to dream about spaceflight and act on those dreams was fulfilled even though she never made it into space. Burgess, having already authored an important body of spaceflight books, has added a work guaranteed to inspire and motivate anyone.