WHEELING — U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito got a tour of the Challenger Learning Center at Wheeling University on Tuesday after helping the facility get a $3 million facelift.

Capito, R-W.Va., explained she selected WU to receive the funding through “congressional directed spending” — previously known as earmarks.

The Challenger Center at WU opened in 1994, eight years after the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight on Jan. 28, 1986. All seven crew members aboard were killed.

Their families started the Challenger Academy, and 35 Challenger Learning Centers were built across the nation with the mission of inspiring and educating youths about math and science.

Now almost 30 years old, those at the Challenger Learning Center at Wheeling University realized the facility was in need of upgrades, and they approached Capito, explained Jackie Shia, director of the Challenger Learning Center at WU.

“This is all new,” Shia said as she stood inside the mission control simulator. “There is not anything that remains the same. This is not even where this was stationed at. This was a classroom before. Our simulator was on the other side of the building.”

Even the software used by the Challenger Learning Center is new, she added. The software includes the choice of earth, moon and comet missions.

“All you need are the students sitting at the table at the computers,” she said. “Their task cards are online, and they know exactly what they are supposed to do.”

In opening remarks, Shia said, there initially was much doubt about putting a Challenger Learning Center in “a rural area” such as Wheeling. But she provided statistics to demonstrate it has been successful.

Programs from the Challenger Learning Center in Wheeling have gone into more than 11,000 classrooms through distance learning, and have been delivered to all 50 states and 22 countries.

Meanwhile, more than 310,000 students have physically come through the doors of the Challenger Learning Center since its openings, according to Shia. And over 10,000 teachers have been trained through professional development sessions.

Lance Bush, president and CEO for the Challenger Center for Space Science Education based in Washington, D.C., traveled to Wheeling for the tour with Capito on Tuesday.

The new facility “will enable a more robust STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) program for the students of West Virginia,” he said. This center is one of the most awarded among our 35 around the country. I’m glad to see this happen.”

Capito remembers the Challenger tragedy.

“It’s something you never forget, but what a wonderful legacy for those families (this is),” she said. “What a way to give back.”