 Hi, it's Bridget. Welcome to Above Life Channel. The purpose here is to inspire your spirit and to fill you with hope. Today, we're going to talk to an inspiring afterlife guest, Krista McCullough. Now Krista was a teacher who also was one of the astronauts of the Challenger, the Space Shuttle Challenger. Now I'm going to share with you. I remember being in sixth grade and the announcement that came across the intercom by the principal that the Challenger exploded and that, tragically, everyone, and now I'm seeing the image of it. Actually, I'm seeing it out like on a television. So I'm being brought into the emotions and the energy of that experience at that time. So for those of you who have moments, historic moments where you remember things like that, like where you were in JFK or shot when you heard the news or where you were when the Challenger tragedy happened or where you were during 9-11 and the terrorist attacks, this is one of those moments for me in my childhood and I can feel it right in my heart, right at the pit of my heart, like just deep in that core, right at like a bull's eye under the center, that's clear sentience, you guys, feeling the energy of a situation or circumstance and it's not easy to do and we get so overloaded and overwhelmed with that sense and energies, a part of an experience. Krista, it's a pleasure to meet you. I feel like she's really into science. I don't recall if she was a science teacher, but it feels like sciences. There's an elementary school not too far away from us that is named after you, McCullough Elementary, and so there's an incredible legacy of education and of courage and teaching and learning and growth that comes as a result of your legacy. So Krista, will you share with us a little bit about what it felt like to you to actually become part of that crew, to actually be selected as an astronaut, as like a civilian going into space? Can you talk to us about what it was like to actually feel, actually be chosen to do that? She says, well, it was quite a process. You had to be very physically fit, physically able, and she says, but the mental stress of it all was much more than I anticipated. It was really hard mentally to prepare and and everyone thinks that it's a it is a taxing on your body, your physical body, and it is, and she says I was a runner. I ran, and so I was comfortable with that, you know, a bit athletic, and so I considered myself fit, but it wasn't, it wasn't a simple mindset of fitness. It was more a almost like a, I think she's saying, a transference, a transference of power from the mind to the body. It's how people perceive mind over matter. It's sort of like that, but it's different. It's much more it's much more almost a mind-bending to actually be in that reality to have that be your situation where your body is getting training and your mind is getting training to help your body, not the other way around. The body isn't getting training to help the mind. It's the mind is getting the training to help the body and to break some barriers that are, that we're so used to, you know, things that we just take for granted in our daily lives that are easy. When you're in zero gravity in space, there's not a there's not a ease. I mean, it looks, you know, from the pictures and the images and the things that we've seen about astronauts and the movies and on television and all that, there's this perception that it's just, you know, it's just float around and everything is just really relaxed and everything is just quiet and while I expected to have some of that, during the tests and some of the things that we practiced sessions that we went through, you got to experience some of that. And the weightlessness was really cool. It was really cool, she says, really cool. The the challenge I had though was the balancing of it, the coming back into the the heaviness of the body was really, it was jolting, it was shocking. It took some time to get used to that and I was really excited. I wanted to do some experiments and things in in space to really learn about things that you could only even just conceptualize and and really experience it. To experience it was really, really exciting. I really was looking forward to that and and I always thought it would be really cool to do something like this, but I honestly didn't really expect to be chosen. I didn't expect to be the one that was chosen for for the mission, but I'm very pleased that I was and I do not have any regrets if you're wondering if I if I knew how it would end if I would have taken on the role and know it feels like she had children. You guys, I feel like she had kids. Maybe a boy and a girl, I can't I can see young people unless it's her class. It might be your class, but I'm feeling like you're older. You're like, you didn't work with older kids, but um our middle school or something. Um, they don't look young little. That's not like kindergarten, first, second grade. It's not like that. It's older. So this was something that many of us at least in my generation witnessed. We saw this. We saw the tragedy. Um, was there an indication that there was, um, potential issues or problems? Like, did you have a sense of that? Like either intellectually, like everybody knew about it kind of? Was there this sense of impending challenge problems or or also intuitively, did you have any kind of sense about the mission? You know, I don't think we any of us actually believed it was going to go off because there had been some problems before some technical things and and the it looks like it was rescheduled. You guys a couple of times or something and so there was a we didn't really think it would go off without a hitch and we didn't really expect it to actually happen. So when we actually had the countdown and we actually left the platform, we there was this moment of oh this is really happening. This is really happening. Wow. Like a disbelief and an excitement and you can't hear anything because everything is really loud and and everything around you is shaking and there's this incredible push of energy. This burst or like this she says this thrust of energy that just pushed us in the into the sky and it looks like when you watch it on television looks really slow motion, but it's fast. You just feel like everything every part of your body is just zooming and yet you're like strapped into this place and she's showing me almost upside down. Like they must not be like facing this way. They must have been facing some other. It's a weird thing. She's showing me like this kind of that the seat is tilted and then it's almost leaning down and then it kind of goes back and up and so I don't know if it shifts and moves so that it doesn't screw up their equilibrium, but she's showing me almost like being kind of suspended in this really buckle them to this seat. And she said I never she says this is Kristen McCullough. Okay. So the astronaut of the space shuttle challenger also a teacher she's saying that I never really felt concerned for my safety. I never felt that I was in harm's way or that something bad would happen. I didn't I never thought that it didn't enter my mind. I mean they talk about you go through all these drills and these safety checks and there are teams of engineers and scientists and technical people that are so highly skilled that there's not there's always a chance excuse me that something could go wrong, but you don't you cannot have that mindset. At least I didn't she's saying I didn't have that that wasn't really there wasn't a fear of my safety. I wasn't I was more afraid that I wouldn't I would get sick that I would be the one that would be throwing up or get motion sick or not be able to I would not feel well in space and that I wouldn't be able to do what I wanted to do there have the experiments and communicate and share the lessons that I learned and that's what I really wanted to do was bring back the experience and talk about it and show what I've learned and I was I was afraid that I wouldn't feel well and it wouldn't be able to do it but you know because the oxygen and the things affect your mind and your brain capacity and I was worried about that but I was never worried about my actual safety. So I didn't to answer your question no I didn't have an intuition about it and I think it's because I didn't allow myself to I didn't allow myself to think in those terms it didn't feel like something terminal that felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity and it was and I don't regret it I do not regret it for a moment and you know there were others in the crew and we all left this earth together and they had families and children and important work to do also it wasn't just me and so a lot was lost that day there was a lot of tragedy that day how do you feel about the kids watching this unfold on television I mean that was such a thing I mean we I can't even remember exactly if we actually watched it I know there was an an announcement that came across the speaker and that that talked about the that the challenger exploded so and then everyone was presumed dead and then of course all the newsreels after that all in the evening and the next day and things and how do you feel about that knowing do you have any kind of feeling or senses of that for yourself there's really nothing you can do nothing that can be done about it it's it's history and it's a it's a natural part of life it's a natural part of things this is just a cycle if you're asking do I wish that the children could be spared the trauma of watching or if watching and knowing actually what was happening to us if that was something that fear that would cause problems for the for for kids and for adults even for for our loved ones to to watch that and know what was happening to us at that point I think I feel as though it's it's surreal I don't know that the children actually could put the pieces together to understand that they were watching us leave our bodies leave this earth literally in our in our physical bodies and at the same time it's something that shouldn't be hidden either it's a natural type of an experience or a process for people to go through we all eventually die and so I don't think it's something you should keep from them I don't I don't feel that and she says to answer your next question there was no pain for us we could tell that something wasn't right because there were some sensors inside some things that were making noise and there were some alerts or indicators and he showed me a man a tall man there's two astronauts that she's showing me one was really tall and he had hair and darker hair and the other one didn't have a lot of hair I don't know if he had a receiving hairline or what the deal was but I can see both of them and they it's like they knew they both knew something wasn't right they could feel it sense it or there were censories because he's just saying sensory um senses that things it seems like things were they were alert these two men were alert to the fact that there was something wrong and nothing could be done to stop it it was too late to go back or to abort the it was too late and it happened it all happened pretty quickly she says and so it was not even a moment to process the fact that this was not right and then it was over she says it was over it wasn't I I don't want people to think that we were trapped inside or that we were um burning or anything like that it was it was just a and it was done there was a flash of a this isn't right and then it was over it was over so if if I had the choice to die in that way or in some other I would rather die doing something that was grand just really full in all in and having the adventure and that is my spirit and I know that my husband and my family will totally understand that my mom and dad would totally get that and all the kids that I've taught all my classes they totally would know that I will and I know that I will live on oh she's going to make me feel so emotional she's sharing that she lives on from her teaching from those wonderful kids that she had that she had the pure joy of knowing of meeting of having in her classroom that that's her greatest accomplishments are them these kids like I don't know if she actually has real has kids herself but there's all these kids and that she made an impact and that they made an impact on her in her lifetime her soul they really influenced her and she feels this incredible honor and that that's her legacy is those kids in the world now and now they're adults she says now these are adults and there's a ton of them and I couldn't feel more proud of that she says I couldn't feel more proud of that I've always pursued what I love and I've never backed down from a challenge and I think it's important to recognize that you you can't not do something just because you're afraid of what might happen it's more important for you to have that experience and to really focus on what you can do and what you bring the strengths that you bring to that situation if you focus on your strengths and the things that you can bring and contribute to that situation whatever it is whatever environment you're in that's where you make an impact that's where that's where you really show up and that's when you are the closest to who you truly are who you really are she says that's when you are the closest to yourself to your soul she mentions god and she mentions not being afraid and that crossing over was an instant thing first you're here and then you're in a different context of reality and it's not it was not confusing it was not painful it was not difficult what was most difficult she says was watching the after effects and the ripples that happened after and the blaming and the pain and the shock and the grief of everyone of the nation the world other astronauts other space programs it really called into question if civilians should be involved and what are the roles and what questioning not just safety practices or procedures but it really seemed as though that was a moment a pivotal moment for the space program that perhaps impacted it long term that something it couldn't quite recover from and eventually led to its it's and she says it's death or it's completion the program itself wow i didn't realize that was the beginning of the end for the space program that is so important the technologies that have come out of space program are fantastic aren't they you guys like fantastic it's not just tang and instant food that came out of there so much technology advancements have occurred because of it she says that would be my hope is that it is reborn that the whole concept of space and exploration and understanding different planets and different atmosphere different different types of ecosystems and there's just so much that can be learned and we've got to continue to have discoveries and explore explore those those unknown spaces you know those on the unknown things i hope that it it restarts i hope it does and then she says i think it will she says i think it will i think we'll come back around to that i think i think i think you as a as a country will come back around to that thank you and she's something like i feel like she has there's a girl i can see a daughter or something she says i'm about my daughter i don't know she's talking about my daughter her daughter because she says our daughters for our daughters she says for the other women that have that come beyond she's acknowledging i think in part my role um thank you christ i appreciate that to inspire the spirit of women so we can be who we're created to be empowering women is part of my entire platform of the work that i do to really inspire us and encourage us to be ourselves and to explore those those those places that we have great deal of interest in the sciences and our communities and creativity and art and politics so many places we can make such an impact and influence i feel that too i feel that too thank you so much and you have glasses i didn't realize you had glasses she says i don't usually wear them for the pictures so i don't know if she wore contacts but she has glasses on right now i don't know if they're readers or what but i see because she's she's pointing to my glasses i have glasses too and so she's pointing glasses and i see glasses all right thank you thank you very much i hope here at above life channel today with our conversation with christa mccullough in the afterlife that astronaut that teacher that went into space and left the earth with the other crew members of the space shuttle i think it was challenger that feels right it's feeling all their energies right now just in this moment here just honoring their family and the legacies that they've left behind all of them not just christa because she really brings in the whole she just brings them all in but i hope that we've inspired your spirit your soul giving you some hope encouragement so that you can be who you are created to be remember this is your life this is your life right here and right now so live it just live it thanks for watching