Hey World: Shuttle Teacher is from Idaho

By Jill Kuraitis, 8-08-07

This afternoon at 4:36 Mountain Time, teacher Barbara Morgan of McCall, Idaho will be launched into space with the rest of the crew of the space shuttle Endeavor.  The 11-day mission will include a visit to the International Space Station, where Morgan will use a robot arm to update the solar-power system. 

Idaho schoolkids are excitedly waiting to talk to Morgan, live from the shuttle, by downlink.  One of these events will be held at Boise’s Discovery Center this coming Tuesday, August 14, at 4:00.  A whole day of activities is planned.

Nearly everyone remembers what they were doing all those years ago when the shuttle Challenger met with disaster on its launch and Christa MacAuliffe, the original teacher in space, perished. I was driving on a Southern California freeway with my toddler son in the back car seat.  He had just thrown his brand-new shoe out the window and I was wondering if you could even scold a kid for doing that – after all, it did seem like fun – when the radio blared out the news.  I took the Sunset Boulevard exit and pulled into a parking lot to listen and calm down.

Morgan was MacAuliffe’s backup, and she’s stayed in the shuttle program more than 20 years, working and waiting for this day.  It’s her 55th birthday.

Here in Idaho, we’ve been blasted – sorry – with so many stories about the launch that it’s become chapter and verse to us, but in case you’d like to review the whole thing, here’s a great story from the Christian Science Monitor.

Happy Birthday, Barbara, and goodspeed.  Idaho is watching with admiration and affection.