CONCORD, N.H. -- Decades after she was picked to be America's first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe is still a pioneer — this time as the first woman to be memorialized on the grounds of New Hampshire's Statehouse, in the city where she taught high school.

McAuliffe was 37 when she perished, one of the seven crew members aboard the Challenger when the space shuttle disintegrated on live TV on Jan. 28, 1986. She was unable to deliver the lessons she had prepared to impart from space. Yet, her impact continues to inspire people today.

“Beyond the tragedy, her legacy is a profoundly positive one,” remarked Benjamin Victor, the sculptor from Boise, Idaho, whose artwork is being unveiled in Concord on Monday, on what would have been McAuliffe's 76th birthday. “And it's something that should always be remembered and cherished.”

The 8-foot-tall (2.4-meter) bronze likeness placed on a granite pedestal is believed to be the first full statue of McAuliffe, recognized for her embrace of experimental learning. Her motto was: “I touch the future, I teach.”

“To witness a hero like Christa McAuliffe honored in this manner will surely inspire future generations of students each time they visit the New Hampshire Statehouse,” stated Gov. Chris Sununu in a statement. His executive order allowed the McAuliffe statue to join statues of notable figures such as Daniel Webster, John Stark, and President Franklin Pierce.

McAuliffe was selected from a pool of 11,000 candidates to be the first teacher and private citizen to venture into space. Aside from a public memorial at the Statehouse plaza on Jan. 31, 1986, the Concord school district and the city, with a population of 44,500, have marked the Challenger anniversary with quiet observance over the years, partly out of respect for her family's privacy. Christa and Steven McAuliffe's son and daughter were very young when she died and was laid to rest in a local cemetery. Steven McAuliffe desired for the children to experience a normal upbringing within the community.

But there are other tributes, numerous schools and a library named in McAuliffe's honor, along with scholarships and a commemorative coin. A science museum in Concord is dedicated to her and to local native son Alan Shepard, the first American in space. The auditorium at Concord High School, where she taught American history, law, economics, and a self-designed course titled “The American Woman,” bears her name. Students hurry past a painting of her in her astronaut uniform.

In 2017-2018, two educators-turned-astronauts at the International Space Station documented some of the lessons that McAuliffe had planned to teach, covering Newton's laws of motion, liquids in microgravity, effervescence, and chromatography. NASA subsequently posted “Christa McAuliffe’s Lost Lessons” online, a valuable resource for students across the globe.

Victor comes from a family of educators, including his mother, with whom he's had many discussions about McAuliffe while working on the statue — including his memory of watching the Challenger disaster on television as a second-grader in Bakersfield, California.

“It was a tragedy, but looking back all these years later, the positive outcome has been the way her legacy has continued to inspire,” he said.

Victor has created four sculptures for the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol, more than any other living artist. To honor McAuliffe, he studied numerous photos and videos, and he met with Barbara Morgan, who was McAuliffe's backup for the Challenger mission as part of the Teacher in Space program. Morgan also resides in Boise and allowed him to borrow her uniform, identical to the one McAuliffe wore.

“Having the opportunity to talk to Barbara about Christa, and learning even more, is something truly invaluable," Victor said. "Just to hear about her character. It's just remarkable.”