Astronaut Richard “Ricky” Arnold floated aboard the International Space Station in 2019, steadying floating orbs of water with his fingertips as he looked straight into the camera — speaking not to scientists or engineers, but to classrooms full of children.
Three decades earlier, Christa McAuliffe had intended to do the same. As national mourning continued over the loss of the Challenger crew, her lessons faded into the periphery.
Arnold and fellow astronaut Joseph Acaba set out to change that. Like Christa, both had been teachers with big dreams of exploring the cosmos. Christa’s Teacher in Space backup, Barbara Morgan, eventually helped create the Astronaut Educator program, which brought on Arnold and Acaba as astronauts.
Nearly a decade ago, the pair flew back-to-back missions to the International Space Station.
“Could we do anything to help bring the Challenger mission to completion?” said Arnold, who spent 197 days aboard the floating station. “And when we talked about it, we realized there were some lessons that were developed that Christa was going to do, and it was time to get those lessons done, to honor not only her, but the entire crew of Challenger.”
She had spent months amid her 114 hours of training devising a set of lessons to show the world — but especially students — the ins and outs of exploring beyond Earth. She wanted students to see how water behaved without gravity, how astronauts slept, how ordinary routines became extraordinary once Earth fell away beneath the windows.
Arnold and Acaba revisited McAuliffe’s lesson plans to bring her teaching to life. The series, entitled “Christa’s Lost Lessons,” included video demonstrations and a corresponding curriculum for classroom teachers.
“As educators, our job is to inspire every day,” Acaba said in an interview with the Monitor. “That’s what we do with our students, and that’s what our goal is. You can give them content, but if they’re not inspired, they’re not motivated. They’re not going to take that in. And so we’re trained in that. We have years of practice doing that, and I think that’s something that we brought with us to the Astronaut Office.”
Arnold, who grew up dreaming of either playing for the Baltimore Orioles or becoming an astronaut, began his career teaching middle school science in Maryland. He also spent a decade teaching math and science overseas. The more he taught, the more his interest in space grew.
“It seemed like it was something out of reach,” Arnold said. “I just felt like, as someone telling students you got to be willing to at least try, raise your hand and volunteer, and I felt like I should probably practice what I preach a little bit and try to pursue that dream.”
Acaba, on the other hand, became a teacher after serving in the Marine Corps Reserves and the Peace Corps. He taught a year of high school and four years of middle school in Florida before applying to NASA.
Acaba and Arnold became Educator Astronauts in 2004 alongside Dorothy “Dottie” Metcalf Lindenburger. Their participation in space exploration put them in a very small group, uniquely positioned to carry on a special part of the immense legacy of Christa McAuliffe.
“I was there, ultimately, in space because of her, because of the decision that was made initially to take a teacher into space,” said Arnold, who flew alongside Acaba on the shuttle Discovery in 2009 on an International Space Station assembly mission. “Somehow, I ended up way down the line getting my opportunity to go to space.”
Throughout her NASA career, Metcalf-Lindenburger felt the presence of McAuliffe and the Challenger crew in the work she did, including on a 2010 mission to the International Space Station and through involvement in other projects as a mission specialist.
“I think that it would have been amazing to hear the perspectives of the Challenger crew when they first had a chance to look back at Earth on that mission — and for Christa — but since they weren’t able to do that, then I really feel that it’s a chance for those of us that have flown, we continue to talk about it,” she said.
All of these teachers in space — Morgan, Arnold, Acaba and Metcalf-Lindenburger — have prioritized sharing their experiences with younger generations.
“We want students to see the future and be a part of that future,” said Metcalf-Lindenburger, who interacts with students as much as possible through substitute teaching, classroom visits, the Seattle Museum of Flight and more. “After 40 years, they might not even have parents that were alive during the Challenger days. But we want them to understand not only that space is for them, but we also want them to learn the ways that astronauts work, and because that can be so impactful, even if you don’t go into a STEM environment or into a STEM job. So we want them to talk about teamwork and leadership.”
To celebrate the memories of their loved ones and the values they lived for, the families of the Challenger crew banded together in the year after the shuttle’s explosion to form the Challenger Center, a nonprofit geared towards STEM education, with learning centers established around the country. Metcalf-Lindenburger has sat on the board for over a decade and will become the next chair in August. Morgan, too, has played an active role in the Challenger Center.
While NASA did not continue the Educator Astronaut program, it opened up application requirements to include people with a background in teaching, Acaba said. And the work they’ve done, just as Christa did, continues to highlight the teaching profession.
“I feel like I’m just a small part of this really big endeavor that is just trying to inspire students and highlight the work that we are doing here at NASA,” he said. “Making that entire crew proud for the sacrifice that they made. And I think that’s what we’re all trying to do,” he said.
Looking back at Earth reminds you that it’s your home, Metcalf-Lindenburger said.
“The whole Earth, not just your hometown,” She said. “I think that being able to convey that, especially in a time when we sometimes find so many ways to divide ourselves, to argue about things — it makes you kind of emotional — but part of why Christa was really inspiring is that she was so positive.”
Metcalf-Lindenburger strives to share this sense of positivity and connectedness with as many people as she can. Arnold, too, continues to carry on the educational component of Challenger.
“I spend a lot more time talking to students about their place potentially in this exploration the solar system, that there are roles that they probably couldn’t imagine — astronauts, one of them — but there’s so many amazing career paths that are out there to be a part of this grand endeavor that I just want to do what I can to move that needle a little bit,” he said.