Allard Beutel
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4769
Debbie V. Nguyen
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
Roger Bornstein
Space Center Houston
281-244-2135
MEDIA ADVISORY: M07-006
EDUCATOR ASTRONAUT BARBARA MORGAN TO MEET STUDENTS AND MEDIA
HOUSTON - NASA's first educator astronaut and former Idaho school
teacher Barbara Morgan, set to fly in space this summer, will meet
with hundreds of students during "Meet an Astronaut Day" at Space
Center Houston Jan. 19. Morgan also will be available for in-person
and satellite interviews.
Media are invited to attend the 10:30 a.m. CST event in the center's
Northrop Grumman theater. Interview opportunities also are available.
Media should arrive in time to attend a 9 a.m. briefing in the
center's Saturn Club that will provide background on NASA's Educator
Astronaut project.
During her session with the students, Morgan will talk about her role
on the crew of space shuttle mission STS-118, an International Space
Station assembly flight targeted for launch June 28. Also talking
with students will be fellow STS-118 crew member Dave Williams and
STS-118 flight directors Matt Abbott and Joel Montalbano. Morgan,
Williams, Abbott and Montalbano will be available for brief,
in-person interviews following the hour-long event.
For media not planning to attend, Morgan will be available for live
satellite interviews Jan. 19 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. To participate,
contact NASA's Johnson Space Center newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 3
p.m. Jan. 18. The interviews will be conducted on the NASA Television
analog satellite located at AMC-6, at 72 degrees west longitude;
transponder 5C, 3800 MHz, vertical polarization, with audio at 6.8
MHz.
The full schedule of Jan. 19 activities includes (all times Central):
* 9 a.m.-10 a.m. -- Educator Astronaut Project briefing at Space
Center Houston
* 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. -- "Meet an Astronaut Day" event with students
* 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. -- Brief, in-person interviews with Morgan and
others
* 4 p.m.-6 p.m.-- Satellite interviews with Morgan (for media not at
Johnson)
A native of Fresno, Calif., and a Stanford alumna, Morgan began
teaching in 1974. She began working with NASA in 1985, when she was
selected as the backup to Christa McAuliffe for the Teacher in Space
Program. In that role, Morgan trained with McAuliffe, who was lost
with her crew mates in the Space Shuttle Challenger accident in 1986.
Following the accident, Morgan returned to McCall, Idaho, and
continued her teaching career, teaching second, third and fourth
grades. She also continued a close association with NASA as the
Teacher in Space designee, working with NASA's Education Division. In
1998, Morgan was selected by NASA as the first educator astronaut in
a new project. The Educator Astronaut Project carries on the
objectives of the Teacher in Space Program, seeking to elevate
teaching as a profession and inspire students. Unlike the Teacher in
Space Program, educator astronauts train and become full-time,
permanent astronauts. They fly as crew members with critical mission
responsibilities, as well as education-related goals. NASA selected
three additional educator astronauts in 2004.
Commanding Morgan's STS-118 mission on the Space Shuttle Endeavour
will be U.S. Navy Commander Scott Kelly. The Pilot for the mission is
Marine Lt. Col. Charlie Hobaugh. The flight's mission specialists are
Morgan, Rick Mastracchio, Tracy Caldwell, Clay Anderson and Williams,
a Canadian Space Agency astronaut. The mission will take Anderson to
the International Space Station to begin a stay and return to Earth
the station's Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Suni Williams, now on the
orbiting laboratory.
During STS-118, Morgan's primary duties will include operating the
robotic arms of the shuttle and station as crew members install a new
section of the station's girder-like truss and replace a failed
gyroscope, among other tasks.
NASA TV will air b-roll of Morgan and the STS-118 crew training, as
well as a prerecorded interview with Morgan, beginning Jan. 16. For
NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit:
For more information about STS-118 and its crew, visit:
-end-
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