Christa McAuliffe, teacher and astronaut.

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In 1984, President Reagan announced the Teacher in Space Project, the goal of which was to find a gifted teacher who could communicate with students while in space. Christa McAuliffe was one of 11,000 applicants and went through a rigorous elimination process to be described as "the most broad-based, best-balanced person" of those they spoke with, and became the first civilian to head to space. She perished in the Challenger disaster, and the country deeply mourns her and her six crew mates.

(Part of my 100 day proj, #100daysofbadassery :) )