Teacher(Framingham, Mass.)
McAuliffe, 37, was a high school social studies teacher in Concord, N.H., and the first private citizen selected in national competition to fly on the space shuttle.
She was chosen from more than 11,000 teachers who applied in NASA's first citizen-in-space competition. In preparation for the flight, she underwent 120 hours of training at the Johnson Space Center near Houston.
She earned her bachelor's degree from Framingham State College and a master's from Bowie State College in Bowie, Md.
She and her husband, Steven, had two children: Scott and Caroline.