BIOGRAPHY: CHRISTA MCAULIFFE: TEACHER IN SPACE (TV)

Summary

One in this series of documentaries which examines the professional and personal lives of a wide range of individuals, both those in the public eye and those of historic note. This Cable Ace Award-winning documentary, narrated by Jack Perkins, utilizes biographical narration, home movies, television excerpts, archival footage, photographs and interviews with family, friends, and colleagues in an examination of the life and legacy of Christa McAuliffe, the teacher selected to be the first American private citizen in space who died aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger when it exploded during lift-off on January 28, 1986. The program takes a brief look at McAuliffe's childhood and early adulthood and draws parallels between benchmarks in McAuliffe's life and the development of the U.S. Space Program, from Alan Shepard's historic flight into space in through the first Space Shuttle mission in 1981; this section of the program includes commentary from McAuliffe's mother, Grace Corrigan, friend Anne Malavich, former astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn, and husband Stephen McAuliffe. The program then describes McAuliffe's own involvement in the U.S. Space Program, beginning with her response to a call from President Ronald Reagan in 1984 for teachers to apply to the "Teacher in Space" program (footage shown), through her selection as a finalist, training at NASA with the nine other finalists, and selection as the first Teacher in Space, announced by Vice President George H.W. Bush in 1985 (footage shown); this section of the program includes commentary by NASA public affairs officer Ed Campion, Teacher-in-Space designee Barbara Morgan, father Ed Corrigan, Grace Corrigan, reporter Bob Hohler, Stephen McAuliffe (in archival footage), son Scott McAuliffe (in archival footage), and former McAuliffe students Matthew Mead and Audra Beauvais, and includes a segment of McAuliffe's appearances on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson. The program then deals with the Shuttle Challenger's mission, from its launch -- delayed several times by technological and meteorological reasons -- through its explosion during lift-off on January 28, 1986; this part of the program includes commentary by Grace Corrigan, Morgan, Campion, Mead, and Malavich and coverage of the disaster from "ABC World News Tonight" with Peter Jennings and President Reagan's television address following the disaster. The final segment of the program explores McAuliffe's legacy, from a child re-enrolling in school to the creation of the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium, and includes comments from Grace Corrigan, Anne Malevich, Campion and Stuart Wallace, director of the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium. Commercials deleted.

This selection from the Alan Gerry Cable Collection has been made available by the Gerry Foundation, Inc.

Details

NETWORK: A&E
DATE: July 11, 1994 8:00 PM
RUNNING TIME: 0:47:29
COLOR/B&W: Color
CATALOG ID: T:40532
GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
SUBJECT HEADING: Biography; She Made It Collection (Abbe Raven); Space shuttle - Challenger (Spacecraft) -- Accidents; Teachers; Astronauts
SERIES RUN: A&E - TV series, 1987-
COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

Cynthia Fenneman … Executive Producer, Writer
Elizabeth B. Klein … Producer
Barbara Coles … Contributing Field Producer, Writer
Bill Harris … Writer
Catherine Stornetta … Composer
Jack Perkins … Host
Audra Beauvais
George Bush
Ed Campion
Johnny Carson
Ed Corrigan
Grace Corrigan
John Glenn
Bob Hohler
Peter Jennings
Anne Malavich
Christa McAuliffe
Stephen McAuliffe
Scott McAuliffe
Matthew Mead
Barbara Morgan
Ronald Reagan
Alan Shepard
Stuart Wallace