Cape Canaveral, Fla. – The shuttle Endeavour arrived at its launchpad early Wednesday for a flight that will finally carry teacher turned astronaut Barbara Morgan into space.
The mission, scheduled to begin Aug. 7, will take Morgan and six crewmates to the international space station.
It’s been a nearly five-year wait for Endeavour, but the shuttle has nothing on Morgan: She’s been waiting 22 years to reach orbit.
In 1985, Morgan was picked as Christa McAuliffe’s backup to become the first teacher in space under a special NASA program.
Then the Challenger carrying McAuliffe broke apart shortly after liftoff in 1986, and Morgan returned to teaching. In 1998, she was selected as a full-fledged astronaut.
On her first mission, the 55-year-old Morgan will operate the shuttle’s robotic arm, coordinate the transfer of cargo and talk from space to students at three schools, if the mission is extended.
The launch would be NASA’s second shuttle flight this year.
