3352 McAuliffe is an Amor

Amor asteroid

The Amor asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after the asteroid 1221 Amor. They approach the orbit of the Earth from beyond, but do not cross it. Most Amors do cross the orbit of Mars...

 and Mars-crosser asteroid

Mars-crosser asteroid

A Mars-crosser is an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars. The known numbered Mars-crossers are listed here. They include the two numbered Mars trojans 5261 Eureka and ....

 which was discovered by Norman G. Thomas

Norman G. Thomas

Norman G. Thomas is an American astronomer.He worked at Lowell Observatory using the blink comparator alongside Robert Burnham, Jr., author of the famous three-volume Celestial Handbook....

 on February 6, 1981. It is named in memory of Christa McAuliffe

Christa McAuliffe

Christa McAuliffe was an American teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, and was one of the seven crew members killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster....

, the civilian astronaut who died in the 1986 Challenger space shuttle

Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...

 disaster

STS-51-L

STS-51-L was the twenty-fifth flight of the American Space Shuttle program, which marked the first time an ordinary civilian, schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, had flown aboard the Space Shuttle. The mission used Space Shuttle Challenger, which lifted off from the Launch Complex 39-B on 28 January...

. The asteroids 3350 Scobee

3350 Scobee

3350 Scobee is a main-belt asteroid discovered on August 8, 1980 by Edward L. G. Bowell at the Anderson Mesa station of the Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff. It is named after the late Dick Scobee, commander of the ill-fated Space Shuttle Challenger destroyed during launch of the STS-51-L mission...

, 3351 Smith

3351 Smith

33151 Smith is a Main-belt asteroid discovered on September 7, 1980 by Edward Bowell from the Lowell Observatory in Anderson Mesa, at southwest from Flagstaff ....

, 3353 Jarvis

3353 Jarvis

3353 Jarvis is an inner main-belt asteroid discovered on December 20, 1981 by Edward L. G. Bowell at Flagstaff . It is named in memory of Gregory Jarvis, one of the astronauts who died in the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster...

, 3354 McNair

3354 McNair

3354 McNair is a main belt asteroid with an orbital period of 1294.8501472 days .The asteroid was discovered on February 8, 1984.It is named in memory of Ronald McNair, one of the astronauts who died in the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster...

, 3355 Onizuka

3355 Onizuka

3355 Onizuka is a main-belt asteroid discovered on February 8, 1984 by E. Bowell at Flagstaff . It is named in memory of Ellison Onizuka, one of the astronauts who died in the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster. The asteroids 3350 Scobee, 3351 Smith, 3352 McAuliffe, 3353 Jarvis, 3354 McNair...

 and 3356 Resnik

3356 Resnik

3356 Resnik is a main-belt asteroid discovered on March 6, 1984 by E. Bowell at Flagstaff . It is named in memory of Judith Resnik, one of the astronauts who died in the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster. The asteroids 3350 Scobee, 3351 Smith, 3352 McAuliffe, 3353 Jarvis, 3354 McNair and 3355...

 commemorate the other crew members.

McAuliffe is an A-type asteroid

A-type asteroid

A-type asteroids are relatively uncommon inner-belt asteroids that have a strong, broad 1 µm olivine feature and a very reddish spectrum shortwards of 0.7 µm. They are thought to come from the completely differentiated mantle of an asteroid....

, meaning that it is rich in olivine

Olivine

The mineral olivine is a magnesium iron silicate with the formula 2SiO4. It is a common mineral in the Earth's subsurface but weathers quickly on the surface....

. It was the original target of the 1998 Deep Space 1

Deep Space 1

Deep Space 1 is a spacecraft of the NASA New Millennium Program dedicated to testing a payload of advanced, high risk technologies....

 mission, but that mission was eventually rerouted to 9969 Braille

9969 Braille

9969 Braille is a small Mars-crossing asteroid that orbits the Sun once every 3.58 years. It was discovered in 1992 by astronomers at Palomar observatory and later named after Louis Braille, the inventor of the writing system for the blind...

.