Editing Teacher in Space Project (section)

{{Short description|NASA program from 1984 to 1990}}
{{Infobox
| above       = Teacher in Space Project
| image       = [[File:Teacher in Space logo.svg|235px]]
| caption     = Logo of the Teacher in Space Project
| header1     =
| label1      = Duration 
| data1       = 1984–1990
| header2     =
| label2      = Goals
| data2       = Spur student interest in mathematics, science, and space exploration
| header3     =
| label3      = Achieved
| data3       = Launched [[Christa McAuliffe]] on [[STS-51-L]]; killed during launch in the [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster]]
| header4     =
| label5      = Organizer
| data5       = NASA
| header5     =
| label6      = Casualties
| data6       = 1
| header6     =
| label7      = Related programs
| data7       = [[Educator Astronaut Project]]<br>Teachers in Space, Inc.
}}

The '''Teacher in Space Project''' ('''TISP''') was a [[NASA]] program announced by [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1984 designed to inspire students, honor teachers, and spur interest in mathematics, science, and space exploration. The project would carry teachers into space as [[Payload specialist|payload specialists]] (non-astronaut civilians), who would return to their classrooms to share the experience with their students.

NASA cancelled the program in 1990, following the death of its first participant, [[Christa McAuliffe]], in the [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster]] ([[STS-51-L]]) on January 28, 1986. NASA replaced Teachers in Space in 1998 with the [[Educator Astronaut Project]], which required its participants to become astronaut [[Mission Specialist]]s. The first Educator Astronauts were selected as part of [[NASA Astronaut Group 19]] in 2004.

[[Barbara Morgan]], who was selected as a mission specialist as part of [[NASA Astronaut Group 17]] in 1998, has often been incorrectly referred to as an Educator Astronaut. However, she was selected as a mission specialist before the Educator Astronaut Project.<ref>Michael Griffin, NASA TV: STS-118 Post-Landing briefing</ref>

[[File:Christa McAuliffe and Barbara Morgan - GPN-2002-000004.jpg|thumb|right|[[Barbara Morgan]] and [[Christa McAuliffe]], backup and primary TISP participants for Mission STS-51-L]]