Endeavor's Safely Home - On a Wing and a Pun

Space Shuttle Endeavor landed safely in Florida an hour ago. "You've given new meaning to higher education," Ground Control told the crew.

It's rare that a pun was so welcome. Barbara Morgan was the first teacher to fly in space since Christa McAuliffe perished with the crew of the Challenger. Usually wounds like this can never be redressed - we can't go back in a time machine and prevent tragedies from occurring.

But, every once in a while, we as a species manage to put in an aftermath which, while never being able to make up for the loss, seems to put us back on track, and rectify the cosmic wrong.

Teachers are special members of our species down here on Earth. It is in their hands, mostly, that the continuation of our culture and civilization is entrusted. When a teacher like Barbara Morgan goes out into space, she is not only continuing but extending the cutting edge of our culture, and providing a lesson not only to her students but the whole world.

The new fleet should be here in a few years. The shuttles still have some missions to go. Let this be the beginning of an end of the age of the shuttle that shines as brightly as this historic mission of the Endeavor.

And, as for rectifying cosmic injustices ... how about Al Gore and his global perspective getting the Democratic nomination for President...

Endeavor's Headed Home

Now comes the scary part. The space shuttle Endeavor is headed home.

The voyage home was once the good part. We were accustomed to dangers in the liftoff from Earth, because of what happened to the Challenger. But the fate of Columbia changed that false sense of security, and now we know can happen when the shuttle comes back to Earth.

Lots of unsettling factors in this return voyage. NASA scientists concluded that the deep gouge on the underside of Endeavor should not get in the way of a safe re-entry. Are they right?

Hurricane Dean is about chew up the Gulf, Houston could be hit hard, so NASA's bringing Endeavor home a day early. The home of Earth is by no means safe and sound.

The basic design of the shuttle is so old that, were it a computer or a car, it would likely not be used or driven except at a show or convention. The technology still works, but we've got to take it off the leading edge of our efforts in space.

We'll have new space vehicles soon. Meanwhile, we're trying to eke out what we can with the old shuttles. We're in a race against time as well as for space, as teacher Barbara Morgan and her brave astronaut colleagues make their way back from the International Space Station above, on behalf of the whole human race and our yearnings for worlds beyond this home planet.

They'll be home on Tuesday.

See also Barbara Morgan Resumes Christa McAuliffe's Journey

Barbara Morgan Resumes Christa McAuliffe's Journey into Space

An emotional moment at 6:36 this evening, as Endeavor lifted off from Cape Canaveral into space. It carried a teacher in its crew - Barbara Morgan, age 55, who trained along with Christa McAuliffe, the teacher who died on the Challenger in 1986.

Gifted teachers. Not just imparting wisdom to their students. Imparting wisdom to the whole human species, by flying as our emissaries out into space.

Emissaries of a species - as far as we know, unique on this planet, and likely unique in this solar system, and maybe beyond - who yearn to go beyond where we were born. A species that looks up to the sky, cosmic toddlers that we are now, and wonders what is out there, and what role we have to play in that future.

Teachers usually convey knowledge that others have discovered. Christa McAuliffe was set to discover and convey what she saw in the beginning of the vast world of space beyond our planet- when her journey was interrupted.

Barbara Morgan resumed that journey a few hours ago. We all wait back here on Earth, eyes to the sky, to learn from her vision.

dedicated to the crews of Challenger and Columbia