[Previous entry: "Congratulations ... Now Go Away"] [Next entry: "Finally ... A Good News Baseball Story ..."]

08/09/2007: "A Dream Fulfilled"

There was a time when NASA could do no wrong. They were the ones with the can-do attitude and the right stuff. Even when they failed, we respected their efforts.

Those days are behind us now, and more often than not, the publicity NASA receives is bad. From astronauts driving cross-country to go Tonya Harding on a romantic rival to reports of astronauts drinking before flights, the stories haven't been kind to the space program. And of course, there were the twin tragedies of Columbia and Challenger.

On a cold January morning in 1986, a large crowd gathered to watch the launch of the space shuttle Challenger and the flight of Christa McAuliffe, the much-touted Teacher-In-Space. Among those watching was Barbara Morgan, a 34-year-old teacher from Idaho who had trained as McAuliffe's backup. Along with friends and family, she witness the horror of her friend's fiery death moments after liftoff.

Morgan returned to teaching, but never lost the dream she shared with McAuliffe. Twelve years later, when NASA offered her the opportunity to fly on the shuttle - not as just an observer but as a trained astronaut - she jumped at the chance. In the interim years, she has been training with her fellow astronauts in Houston and handling the various tasks they perform when awaiting a crew assignment.

Yesterday afternoon, Barbara Morgan finally achieve the goal first pursued by Christa McAuliffe when she was launched into orbit on the space shuttle Endeavour. Perhaps fitting, considering the failure of the first teacher mission, this launch was picture perfect, and as I write this Morgan is working with her crew in preparation of docking with the International Space Station. A fully trained mission specialist, Morgan will operation the shuttle's robot arm in support of ongoing space station construction. But that pales compared to her real reason for flying in space - the dream that she has pursued for two decades. Morgan will speak from space to students at an elementary school in her home state of Idaho, and if the mission is extended, will have additional opportunities to speak with schoolchildren.

Today's lesson: Dedication. Somewhere above, Christa McAuliffe must be proud.