On January 28, 1986, the shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after takeoff, killing teacher Christa McAuliffe and the six other crew members. Barbara Morgan, McAuliffe's backup, was on the ground at Cape Canaveral, Fla., watching. Few would have questioned Morgan if she had quietly pulled out of the program after the tragedy.
But she never abandoned her dream of teaching from space--and now, 12 years later, she's set to carry on McAuliffe's work. This summer, Morgan, '73, begins a year of training and expects to be scheduled on a shuttle flight in about two years as the first "mission specialist educator."
"Our children learn by the example of what we adults do," Morgan said at the press conference announcing NASA's go-ahead. "I felt it was really important that we show children that no matter how bad situations are, you work to make them better."
After the Challenger disaster, NASA shelved its plan to send civilians to space. Still, Morgan stayed with the agency and mastered a different kind of shuttle. She traveled around the country one week a month, stimulating countless kids' interest in space science. And she kept up her duties teaching third grade in McCall, Idaho. She reported for her NASA physical every year. And she waited.
Morgan says she never doubted that her turn to conduct lessons from space would come. "I'm in the business of education, and teachers are persistent and patient," she said.
The mother of Adam, 10, and Ryan, 8, Morgan feels no qualms about the risks. "There are lots of moms and dads who are astronauts; there were moms and dads on that Challenger flight," she said. "I intend to make this really positive for our kids, and they're going to learn a lot. They're brave kids." Like mother, like sons.
