FILE - In this Sept. 30, 1985 file photo, Christa McAuliffe, the space teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, helmeted and ready for the oxygen mask as she prepared for an orientation flight aboard one of the T-28 NASA training planes in Houston, Texas. A whole generation _ including McAuliffe's own students _ has grown up since McAuliffe and six other astronauts perished on live TV on Jan. 28, 1986, a quarter century ago on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011. Now the former schoolchildren who loved her are making sure that people who weren't even born then know about McAuliffe and her dream of going into space. (AP Photo/Ed Kolenovsky, File)

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A memorial in Montpelier honoring the crew aboard the space shuttle Challenger has been moved to a new location.

The monument was built shortly after the doomed launch in January of 1986. Seven astronauts, including New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe, died.

In the months before the launch, local high school students sent letters to McAuliffe, Montpelier leaders said.

A monument was built near National Life in Montpelier, but wasn’t accessible to the public, WCAX-TV reported.

Recently, community members moved the memorial next to Montpelier High School and the bike path, which is a more visible spot.

“For me it’s the sacrifice that seven people made including a science teacher from New Hampshire,” said Robert Hannum, of Montpelier, who visited the memorial. “It still moves me. I feel like I got through it, but I never got over it.”