Dear Christa,
You taught us before and after your death, and we'll never forget you or those lessons
Friday, January 27, 2006
You never stopped teaching us.

We expected you to deliver lessons from space. But after the Challenger exploded, we started Christa McAuliffe scholarships, schools and research centers - more are named for the shuttle and the astronauts who died with you.

Twenty years have passed. But I don't think we totally recovered from losing you, Judith Resnik and everyone else on that flight. We're skeptical of NASA and the shuttles. After Challenger, it took us more than two years to fly again. Then the Columbia shuttle broke apart in 2003. We felt like NASA forgot the lessons from your death.

We've since leaned on robots to do our research. We have two probes roving the surface of Mars, one around Mercury and another reviewing Saturn. We just launched one to Pluto.

But we've bred a clique of space entrepreneurs. After Challenger, American companies began making their own rockets to put private satellites into space. Now millionaire adventurers build their own ships for suborbit flights. A private company is working on tourist flights over Earth, and Las Vegas investors are sketching plans for a space hotel.

And we're going back to the moon. President George W. Bush, the son of the vice president when you died, said the 2018 launch will start work for a base to help propel a manned visit to Mars. The moon ship looks like a giant version of the Apollo capsule, packed with shuttle technology.

I bet you thought we'd be closer to getting to Mars. But astronauts haven't left Earth's orbit since you died. They've been conducting experiments and building a space station with the help of Russia, most of Europe and other nations.

"Space station" must sound exciting to you, but it has bogged us down. There's a chance that after spending $100 billion to build it, we may not even complete it.

NASA will dismantle the shuttles in 2010. They were invaluable for experiments and as "space trucks" for the station. But they're too expensive and too dangerous to fly regularly. We've only gone up once since 2003.

I know you lost a lot. Steve remarried in 1992 and is now a federal judge. Caroline became a teacher. Scott is a marine biologist. But we've gained so much through space research. We have satellite-linked handheld computers and cars with satellite radios. Doctors perform laser eye surgeries. My home computer - we have two - could power the Apollo capsule and then some.

No other teachers ever filled your place in the space program. You were one of us. And you captivated us because of that.

- Chris Seper, Jan. 27, 2006


ABOUT THE LETTER


This letter to ChristaMcAuliffe, the school teacherchosen to fly in the Challenger, was crafted after interviews and research about the Challenger and Columbia accidents. Among those interviewed were officials from NASA, Space.com and The Space Foundation. The family references are to McAuliffe's husband Steve and their two children.

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When I think back of that terrible day, I remember my daughter Tara who at the time was a little girl. I had the television on and watched it in shock. My father later told me he saw the actual take-off and crash. It was horrible. I didn't even think about the fact that Tara was watching because she was so little I didn't think she would pay attention. All of a sudden she turned to me, and asked me to 'please turn that off'. She was as upset as I was. I felt terrible that she saw that, and quickly turned it off and tried to comfort her.

Years later she too was to die a terrible death - swissair 111. 20 minutes of knowing she was going to die. I can barely live with that thought. I am so sorry for the pain that the families of the Challenger astronauts went through, and I have never forgotten them and never will. What a terrible tragedy.

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