Forty years ago, on a cold morning in Florida, the nation watched as the Space Shuttle Challenger began its ascent towards the stars.
Tragedy ensued. Just 73 seconds after liftoff, the rocket booster’s O-ring seal broke, causing a catastrophe that claimed the lives of the seven astronauts on board.
This fatal accident profoundly changed the nation’s space program, but it also sparked a powerful and enduring mission led by the astronaut’s family to inspire young people through education, curiosity, and exploration. That mission continues today through Challenger Learning Centers across the country. Challenger Learning Center in Tallahassee.
As the nation marks the 40th anniversary of the disaster, Challenger Learning Center is launching the Legacy Campaign, a new commitment to the future of memory, education, and STEM learning.
“The Challenger Legacy Campaign honors the crew not just through remembrance, but through action,” said Alan Hunstein, executive director of the center. “By strengthening our programs, updating our mission simulators, and expanding access to hands-on STEM education, we will ensure that future generations continue to see science as belonging to them.”
For more than 20 years, Tallahassee’s Challenger Learning Center has honored the crew’s legacy through action and inspired curiosity, courage and a love of learning in young people. As the K-12 STEM arm of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, the center has served more than 1 million students in North Florida, South Georgia and beyond, many of whom were exposed to science and engineering practices for the first time.
The center will honor its namesake mission and the astronauts who participated in it with a memorial service on Wednesday, January 28th.
The free commemoration will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will include a bell-ringing ceremony for each crew member, remarks from community leaders, and reflections from National Challenger Center representatives. Throughout the exhibit hall, artifacts and visual stories will be displayed to highlight the lives, careers, and legacy of the Challenger crew.
Challenger’s mission continues through educational programs and exhibits. The Challenger Legacy Campaign supports that ongoing mission.
The effort focuses on strengthening the center’s mission control facilities, creating a permanent exhibit honoring the seven astronauts who lost their lives, and developing new educational programs centered around the Challenger mission and its lessons.
The campaign aims to ensure that future generations not only experience a modern learning environment, but also gain a deeper understanding of Challenger’s mission and its timeless lessons.
“The Challenger disaster is one of the key moments in our nation’s history that unites many of us in memory and knowledge,” said Dean Subranu De. FAMU-FSU Faculty of Engineeringthe parent organization of Tallahassee’s Challenger Learning Center. “Despite a national tragedy, the memory of the crew and their dedication to sharing STEM education lives on with the birth of initiatives like the Challenger Center Network. Tallahassee’s Challenger Center is a testament to the remarkable accomplishments that can grow from grief after an unthinkable event. I am so proud of the work of Alan and the Challenger Center staff as they educate tens of thousands of up-and-coming engineers, scientists, doctors, and science-minded youth every year.”
Founded in 2003, the center was founded by Tallahassee leaders with deep ties to space and education, including Norman Thagard, a former astronaut and associate dean of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. CJ Chen, former dean of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering; and Captain Winston Scott, a former astronaut and former vice president for student affairs at Florida State University.
Together, they envisioned a center that would advance the mission of the Challenger crew’s families by creating a hands-on, STEM-focused learning environment rooted in inspiration and discovery.
Tallahassee’s Challenger Learning Center serves 40,000 to 60,000 students each year, offering immersive, hands-on STEM experiences designed to foster curiosity, collaboration, and problem-solving.
Through simulated space missions, interactive exhibits, an IMAX theater, and a unique planetarium, CLC inspires students and community members alike to engage in science in an environment inspired by space exploration.
For a complete list of events and more information, please visit Traditional campaign websitefor more information on the commemoration. Tallahassee Challenger Learning Center Event Website.
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