ronald mcnair, allison -- gregory jarvis and christa mcauliffe. we mourn their loss as a nation together. >> christa enjoyed teaching very much like i think most of us who teacher ind in the space program. we were all enthusiastic about educating our students and developingi in them a real thirst for knowledge. christa was originally from framingham, massachusetts, and she was a social studies teacher who had conga high school -- school forigh several years before the teacher in space program got announced. in the opportunity to fly space and do something unique in education and to teach students all over the world, the excitement of space exploration appeal to her as it did to me, as a science teacher. the opportunity of fly in space. president reagan: today i am toecting nasa choose as the first citizen passenger in the history of our space program one of america's finest, a teacher. space programn was first announced by president reagan back in 1983, where they were going to have a citizen passenger fly aboard the space shuttle and teach somree