This science center is named after and dedicated to two New Hampshire astronauts. Christa McAuliffe was the schoolteacher chosen to be America's first teacher-astronaut – she and her fellow astronauts died in the tragic explosion of the Challenger spacecraft in 1986 – and Alan B Shepard was a member of NASA's elite Mercury corps and became America's first astronaut in 1961. Exhibits chronicle the life and story of these two icons. You can also view a life-size replica of a NASA rocket and the Mercury capsule that transported Shepard to space, play the role of a TV weather forecaster, and learn about space travel to Mars and the power of the sun.
