The center, named for educator Christa McAuliffe, killed in "Challenger" disaster, was started in 1990 by Victor Williamson, an educator at Central Elementary School. It is a building added onto Central Elementary. It aims to teach astronomy and social studies through the use of simulators; the first, "Voyager", proved itself popular, and a new planetarium built in 2020. As the years passed, the demand for flights expanded and new ships were commissioned. In October 2012, the space center was temporarily closed at Central Elementary, but re-opened following several district-mandated upgrades, closures, and maintenance procedures in Spring 2013. The original simulators, along with the school that housed them, was demolished on May 5, 2020 to make way for a new space center built behind the original property. The new Space Center was built housing the 2nd largest planetarium in the State of Utah that started running shows in November of 2020. The Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center switched its name and took out the word Education from the title in 2018. In 2018, they also updated their logo to a new stylized version of the original. (New version not shown)