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Grades 4-6

A Safe Endeavour

Mission accomplished. Last Tuesday, the space shuttle Endeavour touched down safely at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On board were seven crew members, including former teacher Barbara Morgan.

Morgan was selected in 1985 as a backup for Christa McAuliffe, who was to be the first teacher in space, on the shuttle Challenger. The women trained side by side. Tragically, Challenger exploded seconds after takeoff, killing McAuliffe and six astronauts.

After the accident, Morgan continued to teach. In 1998, she became a full-time astronaut. Morgan's plan for the future: "Figure out how we can make more and more of these opportunities available for more of our teachers."

Endeavour's main job was to bring parts to the International Space Station. NASA cut short the mission by a day because of concerns that Hurricane Dean would disrupt the work at Mission Control, in Houston, Texas.

Weather worries weren't the only problems NASA faced. Endeavour's astronauts discovered a deep gouge in the heat-shield tiles that protect the spacecraft upon reentry to Earth. After studying the hole, NASA engineers determined that the damage was too small to pose any danger.

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