Christa is the Germanic short form of Christina — from the Greek christianos (follower of Christ). **Christa McAuliffe (1948-1986)** — American high school social studies teacher from Concord, New Hampshire who was **selected from 11,000+ applicants to be the first teacher in space as part of NASA's Teacher in Space Project**. **Died at age 37 along with six crewmates when the Space Shuttle *Challenger* broke apart 73 seconds after launch on January 28, 1986** — watched live by millions of American schoolchildren. **Her motto: "I touch the future. I teach."** Posthumous Congressional Space Medal of Honor (2004). **Christa Wolf (1929-2011)** — German novelist; *Cassandra* (1983).
Subject of Colin Burgess's *Teacher in Space: Christa McAuliffe and the Challenger Legacy* (2000).
Christa reduces to eight — the number of teacher in space.