A Short Drive from Maine to Honor a New England Hero

In 1984, Christa McAuliffe was recruited by NASA for their teacher-in-space program. In media, she was beloved and admired. Her popularity tremendously amplified the heartache of the Challenger disaster in 1986.

While there are tributes and memorials nationwide to the heroic Challenger crew who all tragically lost their lives when the space shuttle exploded 73 seconds into flight on January 28th, 1986, a first was unveiled on September 2nd, 2024: a woman's statue on the grounds of the New Hampshire Statehouse.

Christa McAuliffe Was Honored with an Effigy in New England

The statue of Christa McAuliffe was unveiled on September 2nd to a crowd reportedly made up of many of her admirers and former students from the New Hampshire school where she taught prior to the disaster, Concord High School. In attendance were also friends, family, and even her widowed husband, Steven McAuliffe.

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The statue is not only the first of a woman being displayed on the grounds of the New Hampshire Statehouse, but also the first statue of a female teacher. To view the statue in person, it is a roughly a 3.5-hour drive from Bangor, Maine and a slight detour if you are traveling to Boston.

Christa McAuliffe is Enshrined in Maine, Too

To honor the seven Challenger astronauts on board, the families came together and created the Challenger Center for Space Science Education - a non-profit that has continued the crew's educational message and ultimately led to the development of Challenger Learning Center of Maine, which is located in Bangor.

Read More: Send Your Kid to Space!

Regardless of where and what it is, teachers and heroes such as Christa McAuliffe either through a space camp, or statue, should always be remembered with her story and sacrifice passed on to inspire generations for infinity ... and beyond.