Zeke
01-28-2016, 03:04 PM
That means my week spent at Space Camp will have been thirty years ago, this Spring. Frankly, at the time, I didn't get the context only that adults everywhere were weeping at the early teen dreamers who wanted to go into space knowing we lost the last one. And the folks at Morton Thiokol in Hunstville were VERY tight lipped during our tour. I also learned a lot about myself as it was the first time I was personality tested and we were slotted for jobs based upon it. Me? I became (positions were broken into orbiter teams) Columbia's Flight Director: the top guy for the lead ship of the class that was, ironically, lost in a different accident some years later. But what did all of that mean? I thought I wanted to be the astronaut?
Nope. As it turns out, I never wanted to be the astronaut, quarterback, race car driver, etc. Those guys are execution artists and they're not what excites me. My true desire and skill set is to be Flight Director, Head Coach or NASCAR Crew Chief. My heroes are guys like Gene Kranz, Lee Iacocca and Winston Churchill (cigar smokers all, by the way). Sum? Leadership generalists and my first inkling came thirty years ago.
So, why all the BS background about me when the intro is about the Challenger disaster? Because there was a teacher on that flight and, in my opinion, the reason we go into space...the reason we try...the reason we exist...is to grow. The first person to tell me what occurred, moments afterward and shaken, was a teacher. And there IS a success story -- beyond the exhaustive leadership studies about the launch leading to multiple industry safety enhancements -- to be found here and it's about a teacher.
As in all NASA flights, there was a prime crew and a backup crew for Challenger's launch. Someone, for each position of seven, studied and trained to be able to replace (as had occurred with Apollo 13) a crew member at a moment's notice. Of course, there was a backup teacher for Christa McAuliffe on STS-51-L. This individual did all of the submissions, made all of the cuts, completed all of the training and became qualified. And then the shuttle blew up. "Teacher in Space Designee" didn't have quite the same ring to it considering the spacecraft was grounded and there were no missions, let alone an educator specific one.
But former McCall, Idaho, teacher Barbara Morgan REALLY wanted to go into space. And she never gave up. Twelve years after the demise of STS-51-L, Morgan was selected as an astronaut candidate and, in 2007 aboard STS-118 (some twenty-two years after Challenger), she achieved orbit as a full-fledged astronaut.
Never give up on a dream.
Morgan is now a Distinguished Educator in Residence at Boise State University.
Nope. As it turns out, I never wanted to be the astronaut, quarterback, race car driver, etc. Those guys are execution artists and they're not what excites me. My true desire and skill set is to be Flight Director, Head Coach or NASCAR Crew Chief. My heroes are guys like Gene Kranz, Lee Iacocca and Winston Churchill (cigar smokers all, by the way). Sum? Leadership generalists and my first inkling came thirty years ago.
So, why all the BS background about me when the intro is about the Challenger disaster? Because there was a teacher on that flight and, in my opinion, the reason we go into space...the reason we try...the reason we exist...is to grow. The first person to tell me what occurred, moments afterward and shaken, was a teacher. And there IS a success story -- beyond the exhaustive leadership studies about the launch leading to multiple industry safety enhancements -- to be found here and it's about a teacher.
As in all NASA flights, there was a prime crew and a backup crew for Challenger's launch. Someone, for each position of seven, studied and trained to be able to replace (as had occurred with Apollo 13) a crew member at a moment's notice. Of course, there was a backup teacher for Christa McAuliffe on STS-51-L. This individual did all of the submissions, made all of the cuts, completed all of the training and became qualified. And then the shuttle blew up. "Teacher in Space Designee" didn't have quite the same ring to it considering the spacecraft was grounded and there were no missions, let alone an educator specific one.
But former McCall, Idaho, teacher Barbara Morgan REALLY wanted to go into space. And she never gave up. Twelve years after the demise of STS-51-L, Morgan was selected as an astronaut candidate and, in 2007 aboard STS-118 (some twenty-two years after Challenger), she achieved orbit as a full-fledged astronaut.
Never give up on a dream.
Morgan is now a Distinguished Educator in Residence at Boise State University.