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W4DPH > SAT 15.12.02 21:51l 87 Lines 3578 Bytes #999 (0) @ AMSAT
BID : ANS-349.05
Read: DB0FHN GUEST
Subj: Teacher to Fly in Space
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Sent: 021215/1459Z @:W4DPH.#TPA.FL.USA.NOAM #:36975 [CLW] FBB $:ANS-349.05
From: W4DPH@W4DPH.#TPA.FL.USA.NOAM
To : SAT@AMSAT
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 349.05 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD. DECEMBER 15, 2002
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-349.05
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe today announced that Barbara Morgan, the
agencyšs first Educator Astronaut, has been assigned as a crewmember on a
November 2003 Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station.
Today's announcement was highlighted with a ceremony at the Maryland Science
Center in Baltimore and fulfills the Administratoršs commitment earlier this
year to send an educator into space in a renewed mission to inspire a new
generation of explorers. Morgan's flight represents the first of what is
expected to be many flights as part of a new Educator Astronaut program,
which will be unveiled in early 2003.
"NASA has a responsibility to cultivate a new generation of scientists and
engineers," said Administrator O'Keefe. "Education has always been a part of
NASA's mission, but we have renewed our commitment to get students excited
about science and mathematics. The Educator Astronaut program will use our
unique position in space to help advance our nation's education goals," he
explained.
Morgan's assigned mission, STS-118, has as its primary objectives to install
additional truss segments that will increase power and communications to the
International Space Station, and to deliver additional supplies for the
Station's crew. Morgan will participate in a number of educational events
from space and be actively involved in the flight as a fully trained NASA
astronaut.
Commander Scott J. Kelly (Cmdr., USN) will lead the six-member STS-118 crew.
Charles O. Hobaugh (Lt. Col., USMC) serves as the Space Shuttle's pilot.
Veteran NASA astronaut Dr. Scott E. Parazynski will be making his fifth
space
flight. The Canadian Space Agency's Dr. David R. Williams will return to
space
for a second time, and Lisa M. Nowak (Cmdr., USN) will -- like Morgan --
make
her first flight into space.
A native of McCall, Idaho, Morgan was selected in 1985 as the backup
candidate
for the Teacher in Space program. Following the Challenger accident, the
program
was suspended and Morgan worked with NASAšs Education Office, meeting with
teachers and students across the country to share her space training
experiences
and their relevance to the classroom and Americašs future.
In the fall of 1986 Morgan returned to teaching at McCall-Donnelly
Elementary
School in Idaho, but continued to travel the country in support of NASAšs
education
efforts. In January 1998, she was selected by NASA to complete her astronaut
training. For more than a year, Morgan has served as a spacecraft
communicator, or
CAPCOM, in Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston,
providing the
voice link between the flight control team and crews orbiting in space.
"Barbara's commitment and dedication to education is an inspiration to
teachers
across the country," concluded Administrator O'Keefe. "She embodies the
spirit and
desire of this agency to get students excited about space again, and I'm
pleased
that she'll be able to fulfill that mission from orbit aboard the Space
Shuttle
and the International Space Station," he said.
Additional information about Barbara Morgan and the International Space
Station is
available on the Internet at:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/morgan.htm and
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov
Information on NASA's extensive education programs is available on the web
at:
http://education.nasa.gov/
[ANS thanks NASA News for this information ]
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