Barbara Morgan

Morgan was born to Dr. and Mrs. Jerry Radding in 1951 and raised in Fresno, California, where she attended Herbert Hoover High School. Following graduation in 1969, she was accepted to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, where she graduated with distinction in 1973 with a B.A. in Human Biology. She obtained her teaching credential from Notre Dame de Namur University in nearby Belmont in 1974.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/morgan_barbara.pdf|title=BARBARA RADDING MORGAN, NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)|access-date=April 14, 2021|publisher=NASA|date=July 2010|author=NASA}}

Morgan began her teaching career in 1974 on the Flathead Indian Reservation at Arlee Elementary School in Arlee, Montana, where she taught remedial reading and math. From 1975 to 1978, she taught remedial reading/math and second grade at McCall-Donnelly Elementary School in McCall, Idaho. From 1978 to 1979, Morgan taught English and science to third graders at Colegio Americano de Quito in Quito, Ecuador, for a year. From 1979 to 1998, Morgan taught second, third, and fourth grades at McCall-Donnelly Elementary School.{{cite book|last1=Ellis|first1=Lee|title=Who's who of NASA astronauts|date=2002|publisher=Americana Group Pub.|location=River Falls, WI|isbn=0966796144|page=[https://archive.org/details/whoswhoofnasaast0000elli/page/131 131]|edition=1st|url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoofnasaast0000elli|url-access=registration}}

Image:Teacher in Space Project McAuliffe and Morgan.jpg and Morgan in December 1985]]

Morgan was selected as the backup candidate for the NASA Teacher in Space Project on July 19, 1985. From September 1985 to January 1986, Morgan trained with Christa McAuliffe and the Space Shuttle Challenger crew at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. Following McAuliffe's death in the Challenger disaster, Morgan assumed the duties of Teacher in Space Designee. From March 1986 to July 1986, she worked with NASA, speaking to educational organizations throughout the country. In the fall of 1986, Morgan returned to Idaho to resume her teaching career. She taught second and third grades at McCall-Donnelly Elementary and continued to work with NASA's Education Division, Office of Human Resources and Education. Her duties as Teacher in Space Designee included public speaking, educational consulting, curriculum design, and serving on the National Science Foundation's Federal Task Force for Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering.{{cite news | first=Marcia | last=Dunn | title= NASA's Barbara Morgan Still Grounded Following Tragedy | date=2003-11-06 | publisher=Space.com | url =http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/ap_morgan_031106.html | access-date = 2007-08-22 }}

In January 1998, 12 years after McAuliffe's death, Morgan was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate (mission specialist) and reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1998 to begin training to become a full-time astronaut. Following the completion of two years of training and evaluation, she was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Space Station Operations Branch. She served in the Astronaut Office CAPCOM Branch, working in Mission Control as prime communicator with on-orbit crews.{{cite news | first=Jim |last=Banke |title= Barbara Morgan Rides Wave of Fame, Awaits Flight Assignment |date=2002-05-21 |publisher=Space.com |url =http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0605/17sts117118/ |access-date= 2007-08-22 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070929110229/http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0605/17sts117118/| archive-date= 29 September 2007 |url-status = live}}

Like many other astronauts and cosmonauts, Morgan is a licensed amateur radio operator, having passed the technician class license exam in 2003. This qualified her to use the facilities of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) project.{{cite news | last=ARRL | title=Educator Astronaut Barbara Morgan, KD5VNP, Gets Ready to Launch into Space | date=2007-08-07 | publisher=ARRL Amateur Radio | url =http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/08/08/100/ | access-date = 2007-08-22 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930203331/http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/08/08/100/ |archive-date = 2007-09-30}}{{Cite web| url=http://www.qrz.com/detail/KD5VNP|title=Barbara Morgan - HAM Radio information| access-date=September 22, 2007| publisher=QRZ.com| year=2003|author=QRZ| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070927002720/http://www.qrz.com/detail/KD5VNP| archive-date= 27 September 2007 |url-status = live}}

Morgan was initially scheduled to fly on the STS-118 mission on Space Shuttle Columbia in November 2004. During the disaster that destroyed Columbia in February 2003, she was aboard a training chase plane which was following the shuttle as it prepared to land.Woodward, Tim. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105691485/ "Disaster halts teacher's chance to fly — again"], Florida Today, February 2, 2003, page 10A. As a result of the disaster, STS-118 was delayed until 2007 and was moved to Endeavour.

Morgan's duties as a mission specialist were no different than those of other crew members. While NASA press releases and media briefings often referred to her as a "mission specialist educator" or "educator astronaut", Morgan did not train in the Educator Astronaut Project. NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin clarified at a press conference after STS-118 that Morgan was not considered a mission specialist educator, but rather was a standard mission specialist, who had been a teacher.{{Cite news | title=STS-118 Post-landing news conference - Comments by Dr. Michael Griffin, Administrator of NASA|publisher=NASA|year=2007|author=Michael Griffin|work=NASA TV Post-landing news conference - August 21, 2007}}

Prior to her flight on STS-118, NASA seemed to limit Morgan's exposure to the press, but she did a series of interviews shortly before the start of the mission about what the crew of STS-118 would be doing to help build the International Space Station,{{cite news | first=Marcia | last=Franklin | title=Parabolic Tales: An Idaho journalist endeavors to tell an astronaut's story | date=2007-08-01 | publisher=Boise weekly | url=http://www.boiseweekly.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A259421 | access-date=2007-08-22 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810100046/http://www.boiseweekly.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A259421 | archive-date=10 August 2007 | url-status=dead }}{{cite news | last=NASA | title=Preflight Interview: Barbara Morgan | year=2006 | publisher=NASA | url =http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/morgan_interview.html | access-date = 2007-08-22 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070825115455/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/morgan_interview.html| archive-date= 25 August 2007 |url-status = live}}{{cite news | last= NASA | title=Second preflight Interview with Barbara Morgan | publisher=NASA | url =http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/interview2_morgan.html | access-date = 2007-08-13 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070920192310/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/interview2_morgan.html| archive-date= 20 September 2007 |url-status = live}}{{cite news | last=Associated Press | title= After 22-year wait, teacher ready for space trip | date=2007-08-07 | publisher=CNN | url =http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/08/07/morgan.profile.ap/index.html | access-date = 2007-08-22 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070918045821/http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/08/07/morgan.profile.ap/index.html |archive-date = 2007-09-18}} commenting, "You know, there's a great sense of pride to be able to be involved in a human endeavor that takes us all a little bit farther. When you look down and see our Earth, and you realize what we are trying to do as a human race, it's pretty profound."{{cite news | first=Tariq | last=Malik | title= Teacher-Astronaut, Crewmates Glad to be Home | date=2007-08-22 | publisher=Space.com | url =http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/070821_sts118_crew.html | access-date = 2007-08-22 }}

Three weeks after Morgan's mission ended, she conducted her first space education assignment at Walt Disney World in Florida. Morgan's words from that day were etched into a plaque on a wall of Mission: Space. The "Wall of Honor" contains quotes from notable people, such as Neil Armstrong, John F. Kennedy, Charles Lindbergh, Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan, Galileo, and Christa McAuliffe. Morgan's plaque is placed beside McAuliffe's, which says: "Space is for everybody ... That's our new frontier out there."{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/09/10/teacher.astronaut/index.html|title= Teacher-astronaut takes mission to Disney|access-date=September 12, 2007|publisher=CNN / Associated Press|year=2007|agency=Associated Press |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070917032359/http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/09/10/teacher.astronaut/index.html |archive-date = September 17, 2007}} This event was one of a series of lectures Morgan would complete.

STS-118, an assembly mission to the International Space Station, successfully launched from Florida's Kennedy Space Center at 6:36:42 p.m. EDT, 8 August 2007.{{cite news | last=NASA | title=STS-118 Status Report 01 | date=2007-08-09 | publisher=NASA | url =http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/news/STS-118-01.html | access-date = 2007-08-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823131906/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/news/STS-118-01.html|archive-date=2007-08-23}} Morgan served as robotic arm operator and transfer coordinator, coordinating the transfer of over {{convert|5000|lb|kg}} of cargo to the International Space Station, and bringing home over {{convert|3000|lb|kg}}.{{cite news | last=NASA | title=STS-118 Status Report #13 | date=2007-08-14 | publisher=NASA | url =http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/news/STS-118-13.html | access-date = 2007-08-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823131906/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/news/STS-118-13.html|archive-date=2007-08-23}} In addition to her other duties, Morgan participated in twenty-minute amateur radio question-and-answer sessions with young people at the Discovery Center of Idaho and other centers, and joined Mission Specialist Alvin Drew in an education event with young people at the Challenger Center for Space Science Education in Alexandria, Virginia.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/STS118_morgan_radio.html|title=Barbara Morgan Talks With Students on Ham Radio|access-date=September 12, 2007|publisher=NASA|year=2007|author=NASA| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070822024053/http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/STS118_morgan_radio.html| archive-date= 22 August 2007 |url-status = live}}{{cite news | first=John | last=Schwartz | title=Astronaut Teaches in Space, and Lesson Is Bittersweet | date=2007-08-15 | work=New York Times | url =https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/15/science/space/15shuttle.html | access-date = 2007-08-22 }} The event was hosted by June Scobee, widow of Space Shuttle Challenger{{'}}s commander, Richard "Dick" Scobee. The center honored Morgan with the President George H.W. Bush Leadership Award. STS-118 landed successfully at Kennedy Space Center on August 21, a day ahead of schedule due to concerns about Hurricane Dean.{{cite web |last1=Malik |first1=Tariq |title=Astronauts Primed for Shorter Spacewalk at ISS |url=https://www.space.com/4240-astronauts-primed-shorter-spacewalk-iss.html |website=Space.com |publisher=Future US, Inc. |access-date=27 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427185356/https://www.space.com/4240-astronauts-primed-shorter-spacewalk-iss.html |archive-date=27 April 2021 |date=18 August 2007 |url-status=live}}{{cite news | last=prlog.org | title=Welcome Home Barbara Morgan; More Teachers Should Fly | date=2007-08-21 | publisher=Space Frontier Foundation/US Rocket Academy | url =http://www.prlog.org/10028001-welcome-home-barbara-morgan-more-teachers-should-fly.html | access-date = 2007-08-22 }}{{cite news | last=Space Frontier Foundation | title=Godspeed Barbara Morgan; Plans for Large Numbers of Teachers in Space | date=2007-08-08 | publisher=Space Frontier Foundation | url=http://www.space-frontier.org/PressReleases/2007/20070808barbaramorgan.html | access-date=2007-08-22 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927184314/http://www.space-frontier.org/PressReleases/2007/20070808barbaramorgan.html | archive-date=27 September 2007 | url-status=dead }}

On June 28, 2008, Morgan announced that she would leave NASA for a teaching job at Boise State University. In August 2008, Morgan took a full-time position as a distinguished educator in residence; a dual appointment to BSU's colleges of engineering and education. There she advises, leads and represents the university in policy development, advocacy and fund-raising in science, technology, engineering and math.{{cite web |last1=Clem |first1=Kylie |last2=Yembrick |first2=John |title=H08-161: Astronaut Barbara Morgan to Leave NASA |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/releases/2008/H08-161.html |website=NASA News |publisher=NASA |access-date=27 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427184557/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/releases/2008/H08-161.html |archive-date=27 April 2021 |date=27 June 2008 |url-status=live}}

On July 4, 2008, Morgan received the "Friend of Education" award from the National Education Association. The following month, Barbara R. Morgan Elementary School opened in Meridian, Idaho.[http://www.mdsd.org/Default.aspx?tabid=62 Barbara R. Morgan Elementary School] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220106080923/http://www.mdsd.org/Default.aspx?tabid=62 |date=January 6, 2022 }}. Retrieved January 30, 2012.

She appeared on the 2020 Netflix documentary miniseries Challenger: The Final Flight.[https://readysteadycut.com/2020/09/16/recap-challenger-the-final-flight-episode-2-help-netflix-series/ Challenger: The Final Flight episode 2 recap – “HELP!”], Ready Steady Cut, September 16, 2020

Morgan received the Adler Planetarium Women in Space Science Award in 2008.{{Cite web|last=Mullen|first=William|date=May 1, 2008|title=Adler award honors teacher-astronaut's grit|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2008-05-01-0804301071-story.html|access-date=2020-07-20|website=chicagotribune.com|language=en-US}}

Actress Mary Chris Wall portrayed Morgan in the 1990 television film Challenger.

Morgan is married to writer Clay Morgan of McCall, Idaho;{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RGtfAAAAIBAJ&pg=2901%2C2845697|newspaper=Lewiston Morning Tribune|title=McCall man wins fiction contest|date=May 8, 1983 |page=2E}} they have two sons. She is a classical flutist who also enjoys jazz, literature, hiking, swimming, and cross-country skiing.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/STS-118_index.html|title=STS-118 Education Resources|access-date=September 12, 2007|publisher=NASA|year=2007|author=NASA| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070913021931/http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/STS-118_index.html| archive-date= 13 September 2007 |url-status = live}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/morgan_barbara.htm|title=Spacefacts: Astronaut Biography: Barbara Morgan|access-date=September 12, 2007|publisher=spacefacts.de|year=2007|author=spacefacts.de| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070927190259/http://spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/morgan_barbara.htm| archive-date= 27 September 2007 |url-status = live}}

{{Reflist|2}}

{{commons category}}

• [https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/morgan_barbara.pdf NASA biography - Barbara Morgan] July 2010
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100201052103/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html NASA Shuttle Missions]
• [http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/stseducation/home/index.html STS-118 Education Resources]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110726170532/http://www.idahopublictv.org/productions/specials/barbaramorgan/ Barbara Morgan: No Limits, 2008 Idaho Public Television documentary]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090518040033/http://ndnu.edu/public-relations/ndnu-news/newsBarbaraMorgan.aspx Barbara Morgan Commencement Speaker: Notre Dame de Namur University, Belmont CA Commencement]
• [http://www.mdsd.org/Default.aspx?tabid=62 Barbara R. Morgan Elementary School] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220106080923/http://www.mdsd.org/Default.aspx?tabid=62 |date=January 6, 2022 }} - McCall, Idaho - opened 2008
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110727225057/http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/getinvolved/benefit/wiss/ Adler Planetarium Women in Space Science Award]
• {{IMDb name|2837542}}
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4DzRKGKmQ8&t=1m55s Barbara Morgan interview] (1985) explaining how she wanted to fly in space since way back when the first chimp was being launched

{{NASA Astronaut Group 17}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Barbara}}

Category:1951 births

Category:Living people

Category:American women astronauts

Category:Educator astronauts

Category:NASA civilian astronauts

Category:People from Fresno, California

Category:People from Valley County, Idaho

Category:Stanford University alumni

Category:Notre Dame de Namur University alumni

Category:Schoolteachers from Montana

Category:American women educators

Category:Boise State University faculty

Category:Amateur radio people

Category:Amateur radio women

Category:Space Shuttle Challenger disaster

Category:Space Shuttle program astronauts