It was a cold January day, a school day starting like any other. In Mr. Van Delden’s fifth grade classroom in Glen Rock, New Jersey, my classmates and I were having trouble concentrating. I kept glancing at the clock on the wall, waiting for lunchtime.

We gathered with the other fifth grade class, sharing desks, eating and giggling, until we finally heard the noise we had been waiting for: The clunks and clangs of a rolling metal cart coming down the hall. Perched on the cart: a brown, square television. A lunch aide plugged it in, and turned a knob.

There it was, that majestic-looking space shuttle on its launchpad. We counted down and applauded as the shuttle lifted off.

The Space Shuttle Challenger spent just 73 seconds in flight, but it felt like far longer. I remember the giddiness, the anticipation, the wonder: a teacher in space, who was going to teach us, too. We had already........

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