Teacher-turned-astronaut readies for space

HOUSTON - When former teacher Barbara Morgan blasts into space this year — she knows people will be thinking about the late Christa McAuliffe.

Morgan today said she'll be among them.

The Fresno-Calif. native, who taught school in Idaho, was McAuliffe's understudy for the 1986 Challenger flight. Challenger broke up just 73 seconds after launch, killing the entire seven-person crew.

Now 55, Morgan is full-fledged member of NASA's astronaut corps, and part of the Space Shuttle Endeavour's STS-118 crew, scheduled to launch in June.

Morgan, who is NASA's first "educator astronaut," says she isn't deterred by the accident that killed McAuliffe, who taught in New Hampshire, saying that "you weigh the risks."

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