By Marc S. Posner
SOAR Magazine

Twenty years later, Barbara Morgan finally has a shuttle flight to call her own.

Morgan was the backup to Christa McAuliffe, who would have become the first teacher in space aboard Challenger in January, 1986.

NASA announced late last week that the space agency has finalize crew assignments for two missions which are currently targeted for launch next year. One of those missions, STS-118, is set to include Morgan as one of four mission specialists.

STS-118 will be commanded by Navy Cmdr. Scott J. Kelly. The pilot will be Marine Lt. Col. Charles O. Hobaugh. The mission specialists are Canadian Space Agency astronaut Dr. Dafydd R. Williams, educator astronaut Barbara R. Morgan, Richard A. Mastracchio and Tracy Caldwell. STS-118 will deliver to the International Space Station the third starboard truss segment, an external stowage platform and logistics and supplies in a SPACEHAB single cargo module. Veteran shuttle astronaut and spacewalker Scott Parazynski, previously assigned to STS-118, has left that crew to prepare for assignment to another mission.
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From NASA

The Space Shuttle Discovery stands at its launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The shuttle arrived at 8:30 p.m. EDT Friday on top of a giant vehicle known as the crawler transporter.

“Rollout of Space Shuttle Discovery signifies the last major processing milestone in preparation for our next mission, STS-121,” said Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale. “The entire team has worked tremendously hard to ensure we were prepared to move to the pad, and we are excited to continue moving toward a July launch.”
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From a NASA report

For the first time in history, a satellite has flown within another satellite.

International Space Station Flight Engineer Jeff Williams “piloted” a unique spacecraft in three dimensions around the pressurized Destiny module of the ISS. The demonstration tested the basics of formation flight and autonomous docking that could be useful in multiple spacecraft formation flying in the future, according to a report issued by NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

The experiment is dubbed Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Re-orient Experimental Satellites, also known as SPHERES.
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