Editorial use only Christa McAuliffe (1948-1986), one of the crew members on the NASA shuttle Challenger mission 51-L, which exploded seventy three seconds after lift off on the 28th January 1986. All seven crew members were killed. It is thought that the accident was caused by a failure of an 0-ring in a seal on the right hand solid rocket booster, with consequent ignition of the leaking fuel. Christa McAuliffe, who taught at Concord High School, New Hampshire, was one of ten finalists in the NASA Teacher in Space Project.