Endeavour’s crew goes to the head of the class

It's been more than four years since the shuttle Endeavour's crew was first assembled — and in that time, commander Scott Kelly and his crew have had to weather the loss of seven colleagues on the shuttle Columbia, the long aftermath of that tragedy, and the comings and goings of astronauts being shifted to and from other missions.

The road to flight has been even longer for Endeavour crew member Barbara Morgan: The Idaho elementary-school teacher was the backup for Christa McAuliffe on the ill-fated flight of the shuttle Challenger back in 1986, and started training in 1998 as NASA's first post-Challenger educator-astronaut. On Endeavour's STS-118 mission, Morgan gets to fly in space at last.

Most people would say that's a long wait. Morgan, however, sees it differently. "It's been long, but it's not been a wait," she told NBC News before the flight.

"It's been long work, and a good work," she said. "Most things in life don't come easy. Most things in life take a lot of effort, and take some patience and some perseverance. And as classroom teachers, that's what defines classroom teachers, that's why classroom teachers can do their jobs so well. You don't get instant gratification in the classroom."

With Endeavour's flight, Kelly, Morgan and five other crew members finally put their training to the test. Here's the full class roster for STS-118:

Scott Kelly, commander
Born Feb. 21, 1964 in Orange, N.J. Married, two children.
Education: B.S. in electrical engineering from the State University of New York Maritime College; M.S. in aviation systems from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

NASA Endeavour commander Scott Kelly

Kelly's flight experience includes service as a naval aviator on F-14 Tomcats as well as F/A-18 Hornets, and he currently holds the rank of commander in the U.S. Navy. He has more than 3,700 hours of flight experience on more than 30 different aircraft. Kelly was selected as an astronaut in 1996. He served as pilot on the shuttle Discovery's servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope in 1999. His twin brother, Mark, is also a NASA astronaut and is due to serve as shuttle commander on STS-124 next year.

Quote: "I think having a permanent human presence in space is important for not only the country but the rest of the world. I think if we’re going to continue as a species eventually, far in our future, we’re going to have to find another place to live. And this is just a small steppingstone toward that goal."

Charles Hobaugh, pilot
Born Nov. 5, 1961, in Bar Harbor, Maine. Married with four children.
Education: B.S. in aerospace engineering, U.S. Naval Academy.

NASA Pilot Charles Hobaugh

Hobaugh, a Marine lieutenant colonel, flew combat missions during the first Persian Gulf War as a naval aviator. He has logged more than 3,000 hours of flight experience on more than 40 aircraft. Hobaugh joined the astronaut corps in 1996 and served as the pilot on the shuttle Atlantis' mission in 2001 to install the Quest airlock on the international space station. He was capsule communicator for Columbia's last mission in 2003 — and says the tragedy points to the "inherent risk in what we do."

Quote: "There are some very surreal moments when you get into space, and you see someone floating around or something floating by for the first time and you're in space. But you've really just got to put your head down and work or you never get anything done."

Barbara Morgan, mission specialist
Born Nov. 28, 1951, in Fresno, Calif. Married with two children.
Education: B.A. in human biology, Stanford. Teaching credential, College of Notre Dame (Belmont, Calif.).

NASA Educator astronaut Barbara Morgan

Morgan was an elementary-school teacher from 1974 to 1998 in Montana and Idaho, with a teaching stint in Ecuador in 1978-79. She was Christa McAuliffe's backup for the 1986 Challenger flight, and assumed the duties of NASA's teacher-in-space designee after the loss of the shuttle and its crew. She was named to the astronaut corps in 1998. During Endeavour's mission, she will help operate the robotic arms on the space station and the shuttle, and also conduct several educational events. She says she wants to return to teaching when she leaves NASA, "if they'll take me back in the classroom."

Quote: "Education and exploration are really very much the same. It's all about discovering, it's all about experimenting, and it's all about taking what you discover and what you experiment with, and what you learn, and sharing that with others."

MORE FROM HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT

Human Spaceflight Section Front

Space toilet broken ... again! Space millionaire confident ahead of liftoff Veteran space station crew ready to fly Depressed astronaut: Heal thyself Elite club lets space tourist cut in line Columbia astronaut's diary goes on display Two halves of NASA merge at half-century 10 firsts from NASA's first 50 years Now, NASA and Russians need each other U.S. billionaire trains for second spaceflight Human Spaceflight Section Front   Add Human Spaceflight headlines to your news reader: