(no subject)
On January 28, 1986 I was sitting with everyone else from my sixth grade in Mr. Fernholtz's room to watch the space shuttle launch. Steve Bakken, our math teacher (who was later convicted of having sexually abused male students on field trips), had been a finalist in the Teacher in Space program and with the approaching launch, he was getting a lot of press attention so we were all hyped up for it. We learned everything we could about NASA, the space shuttle, Christa McAuliffe and the school she taught and her family.
We counted dow to blast off with the guy on the TV and cheered as the shuttle blasted off. Seventy-six seconds later the whole thing came apart. Litterally.
Barbara R. Morgan, was another teacher recruited for the Teacher in Space program in the 1980's and was Christa's backup for the flight. Yesterday she was on the shuttle Endeavour as it took flight. I wonder what that was like for her after all these years.
Say a little cheers to Barbara and to Christa today. A teacher is in space.