Kids get lesson from orbiting classroom

Christa McAuliffe's dream of teaching in space is finally fulfilled.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published August 15, 2007

CAPE CANAVERAL - Teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan transformed the space shuttle Endeavour and space station into a classroom Tuesday for her first education session from orbit, fulfilling the legacy of Christa McAuliffe with joy and also some sadness.

"I've thought about Christa and the Challenger crew just about every day" since their shuttle exploded during liftoff on Jan. 28, 1986, killing all seven on board, Morgan said before class got under way. "I hope that they know that they are here with us in our hearts."

Morgan, 55, who was McAuliffe's backup for the doomed flight, got her first opportunity to talk with schoolchildren Tuesday afternoon, almost halfway through her two-week mission.

The youngsters were assembled at the Discovery Center of Idaho in Boise, less than 100 miles from the elementary school where Morgan taught before becoming an astronaut.

One child wanted to know about exercising in space. In response, Morgan lifted the two large men floating alongside her, one in each hand, and pretended to be straining. Another youngster wanted to see a demonstration of drinking in space. Morgan and her colleagues obliged by squeezing bubbles from a straw in a drink pouch and swallowing the floating red blobs.

The 25-minute question-and-answer session was a welcome diversion for NASA, which found itself trying to explain why foam insulation is still falling off shuttle fuel tanks. The shuttle Columbia was destroyed during re-entry in 2003 because a large chunk of foam insulation broke off, leaving a hole in the wing.

Debris, possibly foam, broke off Endeavour's external fuel tank during liftoff Aug. 8, digging a gouge 3 1/2 inches long and 2 inches wide into the shuttle's belly.

The gouge is not considered a threat to the crew, but NASA is debating whether to send astronauts out to fix it in order to avoid time-consuming postflight repairs. Any structural damage to the area resulting from the more than 2,000-degree heat of atmospheric re-entry would take weeks or longer to repair.

All the testing and analyses are expected to be completed by today, and any repairs would be conducted during the shuttle's fourth space walk, scheduled for Friday.

"I think NASA's doing the right thing," said Morgan's husband, Clay. "I don't want them to send someone down to try and fix it unless that makes it safer."

[Last modified August 15, 2007, 01:30:26]