Barbara Morgan could be one of my favorite people.
Her story is the kind I like...the never give up...the I will do it one way or the other...the I wonder how long it takes rather than I wonder if it can be done.
Barbara Morgan was picked as Christa McAuliffe's backup to become the first teacher in space. At that time it was the first non-astronaunt, I think.
In 1985, the space shuttle Challenger carrying McAuliffe exploded shortly after liftoff. I remember it vividly...seeing those eight seconds played over and over again on Japanese television.
Barbara Morgan returned to teaching for 10 more years....but then was selected as a full-fledged astronaut. How cool is that!!!!
Endeavour was scheduled to take off in November 2002. But...the Columbia
disaster killed seven astronauts and grounded the space program for 2.5 years.
Fast forward five years to today. The Endeavour took seven hours to move 3.3 miles to get to its launch pad. In about four weeks, on August 7th, the Endeavor will head for a construction mission on the space station.
Barbar Morgan will be aboard - she will operate the shuttle's robotic arm, coordinate the transfer of cargo and the best part of all...do the teacher thing by talking to students at three schools. Seriously now...just how cool is Barbara Morgan?
Anybody needing a hero need only wait till August 7th and then look up.
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