3352 McAuliffe ( /məˈkɔːlɨf/) is an Amor and Mars-crosser asteroid which was discovered by Norman G. Thomas on February 6, 1981. It is named in memory of Christa McAuliffe, the civilian astronaut who died in the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster. The asteroids 3350 Scobee, 3351 Smith, 3353 Jarvis, 3354 McNair, 3355 Onizuka and 3356 Resnik commemorate the other crew members.
McAuliffe is an A-type asteroid, meaning that it is rich in olivine. It was the original target of the 1998 Deep Space 1 mission, but that mission was eventually rerouted to 9969 Braille.
Famous quotes containing the word mcauliffe:
“Just opening up the door, having this ordinary person fly, says a lot for the future. You can always equate astronauts with explorers who were subsidized. Now you are getting someone going just to observe. And then you’ll have the settlers.”
—Christa McAuliffe (1948–1986)