Shuttle launches with teacher aboard by Ioana Madalina Tantareanu

Wendnesday, space shuttle Endeavour blasted into orbit from Cape Canaveral, with teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan onboard, who finally fulfilled the dream of Christa McAuliffe and the rest of the fallen Challenger crew. The seven man crew of the Endeavour blasted off right on schedule on 6.36 PM, from te seaside pad, and are expected to reach the international space station on Friday. Mission Control exclaimed "Morgan racing towards space on the wings of a legacy", right after Endeavour safely passed the 73-second mark - the moment when Challanger exploded - and added "For Barbara Morgan and her crewmates, class is in session", right after the shuttle reached orbit. The launched was watched by more than half Of the 114 Teacher-in-Space nominees, and by June Scobee Rodgers, the widow of Challenger's commander who stated : "The Challenger crew â€" my husband, Dick Scobee, the teacher Christa McAuliffe â€" they would be so happy with Barbara Morgan". "Every time we fly I know that we can lose a crew," said Michael Griffin, NASA Administrator to The Associated Press early Wednesday afternoon. "That occupies a large portion of my thoughts. Unless we're going to get out of the manned space flight business, that thought is going to be with me every time we fly." Morgan's main responsibility will be to help operate the robotic arm, and oversee the transport of cargo from the shuttle to the station. the rest of the crew will be busy installing a new gyroscope and a swuare-shaped beam to the exterior of the station, and will be also using a 50-foot laser boom to inspect the shuttle's wings, nose and belly. The shuttle underwent a massive refitting that included imporved main engine monitoring equipment, complete sattelite navigation and new power trasnfer system from the station to the shuttle. This is Endeavours first flight since 2002, and was actually scheduled for Tuesday, but a leaky valve in the crew cabin delayed the lift-off.

by Ioana Madalina Tantareanu for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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