Teacher In Space (1984)

This Day in Esoteric Political History

Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia

History

4.6 • 982 Ratings

🗓️ 29 August 2021

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It’s August 29th. This day in 1984, NASA and the Reagan administration announced a “Teacher in Space” program intended to find one American teacher who would join a shuttle mission.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss the program to reinvigorate interest in space travel, some of the criticism it received — and the tragic conclusion two years later with the Challenger explosion.

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Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Julie Shapiro, Executive Producer at Radiotopia

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from radiotopia.
0:07.0	My name is Jody Avergan.
0:10.0	This day, August 29th, 1984, we're stretching it a little bit. It was actually August 27th,
0:17.0	1984, but anyway, on this day, President Ronald Reagan announced the official formation of the Teacher in Space Project.
0:25.1	As I'm sure you know, listeners, we hear are fans of very straightforward titles.
0:29.1	You are listening to a podcast called This Day in S.R. political history, so this program that was called Teacher in Space Program,
0:35.4	well, that's what it was.
0:36.5	It was a new initiative to send a teacher into space.
0:40.4	The first private citizen sent into space on a NASA shuttle.
0:45.0	Now, this day in 1984 was when this program began.
0:49.6	The end of this story essentially and tragically is a couple years later January
0:53.6	1986 when the Challenger Shuttle exploded a minute and a half after takeoff killing
0:59.6	everyone on board including a teacher who was part of this program, Krista McAuliffe.
1:05.2	So here to discuss Reagan's initiative, the larger question of private citizens in space,
1:10.6	and of course the tragedy of Krista McCullough and the Challenger explosion are as always
1:15.4	Nicole Hammer of Columbia and Kelly Carter Jackson of Wesley. Hello there.
1:19.6	Hello Jody. Hey there. So Kelly before we get into the teacher in space program, I wonder if you can sort of set us in the early 80s and just like generationally, you know, we have a generation that grew up in the 60s obsessed with space.
1:33.6	What is the state of America's of space obsession
1:36.4	at this moment and how does this teacher program
1:38.8	fit into that?
1:39.6	Well, I think when it comes to space,
1:41.2	you really have to keep, you have to keep the dream alive you have to keep the
	...

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