Mark Fennell

The years go by and the 1970s roll around and Thiokol's focus shifts slightly towards NASA.

So what is it exactly that the company does for the space program here?

What are they doing on the space shuttles?

Right, so Thiokol is busy building the solid rocket boosters for NASA.

And once they're used, they are collected, cleaned off, and used for the next rocket launch.

And Thiokol, they are churning out this work.

The program was designed to inspire students and spark their curiosity in maths, science and space exploration.

The President Ronald Reagan announced it in 1984.

With a teacher chosen, NASA had reinvigorated the public's interest in space travel.

Not just in America, by the way, around the world.

Two years go by and launch day finally arrives and you can cut the anticipation with a knife.

But they didn't call it off.

And it wasn't just locals watching on.

millions of people were tuning in to see the launch live on TV, including students and classrooms, to see a teacher, someone other than an astronaut, be sent into space.

It was a huge day.

Everything was going perfectly to plan, and the launch went off without a hitch.

So you might recognise this story now because yes,

This is the Challenger space shuttle disaster.

Seven astronauts died, and of course that teacher, Krista McAuliffe.

It is hard to articulate the impact this had on everyone involved.