2 teacher-astronauts assigned to 2008 mission

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: Houston Chronicle

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Two more of NASA's classroom teachers turned astronauts have been assigned to their first spaceflights.

Ricky Arnold and Joe Acaba, who left teaching posts three years ago to join NASA's astronaut corps, are among seven astronauts assigned to the same assembly mission to the international space station. Scheduled for the fall of 2008, the mission will deliver the last of four solar power modules to the orbital outpost.

Their assignment, announced on Friday, comes of the heels of NASA astronaut Barbara Morgan's August shuttle flight. Morgan, who served as the backup to NASA's teacher-in-space Christa McAuliffe, flew after a 21-year wait. McAuliffe was among seven astronauts that perhished in the 1986 Challenger explosion.

Morgan,who resumed her teaching duties in McCall, Idaho, after the tragedy, was invited by NASA to train as a professional astronaut in 1998. A half-dozen years later, the space agency selected three more teachers to train for spaceflight.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/5234228.html

[itsrobert]

1. Teachers have no need to be in space

It's a waste of money and a more qualified individual should be going up.

[shireen]

2. pretty short-sighted comment

before anyone becomes a NASA astronaut, engineer, technician, or scientist, he/she has to go to school where their foundation skills are taught by TEACHERS.

After parents/guardians, teachers have the most influence on young children. Putting a teacher in space will fire the imaginations of children all over the country, and give them a wonderful role model. It will make space science more accessible to them. It will give them something to dream about. Those teachers in space will not only be teaching from space, they will be showing kids what it takes to be an astronaut, or engineer who builds the shuttle and future generation space transports.

And before anyone starts trashing space science and how useless it is, consider this: innovation does not come out of thin air. Innovation comes out of dreams, curiosity and imagination. Space sciences and many other basic science and engineering disciplines provide the catalyst for technical and scientific advancements that have made our lives richer. We need to do a better job of exposing kids to the wonder and mystery of science if we want to maintain a technological and scientific lead.

I'm very excited about these teachers going to space. In addition to the reasons they should do this, mentioned aboove, they are also the living legacy of Christa McAuliffe, who paved the way for them. I can't think of a better way to honor her memory.

[onehandle]

3. What if they pay their own way?

Those silly overpaid teachers have to have 20 mil under their sofa cushions.

Regular people going into space inspires others to the possibility. When I was a kid, I was sure that I would have an opportunity to go up in space. Unlikely at this point. I want kids to keep dreaming.

[shireen]

4. LOL! Yeah, and you should look inside the mattresses

Plus they're so smart they've sold all their US currency and bought gold. :)