Here’s a nice story about teacher/astronaut Barbara Morgan, who will be on space shuttle Endeavour when it blasts off this week.
Through the years, Morgan has answered the risk question dozens of times, usually offering a variation on NASA’s theme that manned spaceflight is too important to abandon.
But her husband said other reasons drive her too.
He said she thinks she’s “carrying on” for her friend McAuliffe and other lost crew members. She feels connected to astronauts she has known and shares their values. She wants to honor teachers, especially those who make sacrifices every day.
“Some teachers — and their students — face physical risks just showing up at school in some of the more dangerous neighborhoods in our country,” he said. “In comparison, astronauts live very safe lives, except when they fly in space shuttles, once every few years.”
