Endeavour
index
WiFi
blanket repair
trinity
Gulf Water Temp
jnj
Katrinawatch
Barbara Morgan: Teacher in Space
Space Epoxy
Shuttle Tiles
Space Tools
Tile Gouge
Flying on the shuttle is schoolteacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan. Ms Morgan, 55, originally trained at Nasa as a back-up for Christa McAuliffe, who was selected for Nasa's Teacher in Space programme, announced by President Reagan in the 1980s. McAuliffe and six other astronauts were killed in 1986 aboard the shuttle Challenger, when a leaky booster rocket triggered an explosion 73 seconds into launch. After the incident, Nasa asked Ms Morgan to stay on as its Teacher in Space representative and pledged a shuttle flight to fulfil McAuliffe's educational agenda. But then the agency also banned civilians from flying in its spacecraft, so Ms Morgan had to become a fully trained astronaut, joining Nasa's corps in 1998. She will operate a robot arm in space and, if time permits, speak with school children at locations around the US via a link-up. ***** NASA looked cautiously to its next mission due in October after the US shuttle Endeavour returned safely to Earth yesterday despite damage to its underside. "We are still pointing for October. We still have time," the space agency's launch director, Mike Leinbach, said. "We'll see the time it takes to make the modification," he said, referring to changes needed after a piece of foam broke off Endeavour's external fuel tank on blast-off and struck its belly, leaving a small gash in a heat tile. NASA officials breathed a sigh of relief at the safe landing. The heat tile had held as Endeavour re-entered Earth's atmosphere, withstanding temperatures of up to 1500C. "It looked almost like a pristine vehicle," Mr Leinbach said. "The tile did very well on re-entry," said NASA administrator Michael Griffin. "Almost everything about this tank is working very well." The 13-day mission saw the first teacher in space, lending an element of human warmth after a troubling few months for NASA. "You have given a new meaning to higher education," joked astronaut Chris Ferguson as he welcomed back the five-man, two-woman crew, including astronaut-teacher Barbara Morgan. Safety has been a big concern since 2003, when the shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry. AFP
