Description:

McAuliffe Christa

Single page ALS, 6" x 8.5" on light purple stationary stock. Dated "September 7", although the accompanying provenance fully dated the letter as September 7, 1985. Signed by Christa McAuliffe as "Christa". Center fold else fine condition. Accompanied by a signed detailed two page letter of provenance by the original recipient of the letter (Don LeBrun), who was a close friend and colleague of Christa's during her stay at Concord High in New Hampshire, later to become a vice principal in a neighboring district.

Teacher and astronaut McAuliffe was selected from more than 11,000 applicants to participate in NASA as Teacher in Space Projects, and she was scheduled to become the first teacher in space. As a member of mission STS-51-L, she was planning to conduct experiments and teach two lessons from Space Shuttle Challenger. On January 28, 1986, her spacecraft disintegrated 73 seconds after launch, and she was one of seven crew members killed.

Christa's warm, bubbly, effervescent letter is shown in full below:

"September 7

Dear Don,

Please convey my thanks to the C.E.A. for the lovely gold bracelet. I have been wearing it during my past few days of interviews and so many people have complimented me on my selection of jewelry!

I feel very strongly about remaining an active member this year even though I will not be in a classroom. It's so important that teachers unify and draw from each other strengths.<

Thanks again - I'm off tomorrow for Houston -

Love,

Christa"

After NASA announced the selection of McAuliffe, her whole community rallied behind her, treating her as a hometown hero when she returned from the White House. As for McAuliffe, she saw the space mission as a chance to go on the ultimate field trip. She believed that by participating in the mission she could help students better understand space and how NASA works.

One of the more difficult aspects of the program was leaving her family for extensive training. She headed to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, in September 1985, returning only for the holidays. More than any other year, 1986 was to be the year of the space shuttle, with 15 flights scheduled. McAuliff's mission, STS-51L, was to be the first to depart for space.

The shuttle was originally scheduled for lift-off on January 22, but there were multiple delays. The first one was a routine scheduling delay. The second was because of a dust storm at an emergency landing site. The third delay was because of inclement weather at the launch site. One final delay was due to a technical problem with a door latch mechanism.

On January 28, 1986, McAuliffe's friends and family, including her two children, anxiously watched and waited for the Challenger space shuttle to take off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Her students in Concord also tuned in with the rest of the country to watch the history-making space expedition. However, less than two minutes after lift-off, the shuttle exploded, and everyone aboard died.

NASA spent months analyzing the incident, later determining that problems with the right solid rocket booster had been the primary cause of the disaster. The findings revealed a gasket had failed on the rocket booster, the cold had affected the O-rings and a leak caused fuel to ignite.

After her death, this courageous educator received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. As a tribute to her memory, a planetarium in Concord was named after her, as well as an asteroid and a crater on the moon. In addition, the Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center at Framingham State College was established to carry on her legacy and support advancement of educational practices throughout the region.

A scarce and highly desirable letter as she prepared for the first teacher in space mission, with impeccable provenance!

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