Recently, I happened to catch the documentary Barbara Morgan: No Limits on PBS and have since been inspired by her story. Barbara Morgan applied for the Teacher in Space Project and was selected as backup astronaut to Christa McAuliffe, the female teacher chosen for the Challenger Mission in 1986. As McAuliffe prepared for flight with the Challenger crew, Morgan trained right alongside her, as if the mission was her own. Tragically, Morgan watched her fellow teacher perish in the Challenger disaster. As a result of McAuliffe's passing, Morgan honorably fulfilled her role of backup astronaut by speaking for the Teacher in Space program through media interviews.

No Limits showed footage of Morgan, in interview after interview, remaining humble and strong while publically answering questions about the Challenger disaster. That same year, Morgan returned to her job teaching elementary children in Idaho. Twelve years pass by, Morgan decided to join NASA as a full-time astronaut and finish what she started in 1986... And "get some stardust" on her, as she firmly stated in her original application interview for the Teacher in Space program, 1986. At the age of 55, twenty-one years after her first interview with NASA, Morgan's dream came true: NASA named her to the STS-118 crew. In August of 2007 Morgan was lifted into space, embodying the legacy of the Challenger crew and teachers around the world. Morgan has since retired from NASA and is currently teaching at Boise State University.

As I watched this documentary, and went through an entire box of tissues, I was overcome with hope. Towards the end of No Limits, Morgan said something that has been the driving force for this Green issue of Las Vegas Woman: "When you look at the Earth's atmosphere from above, it is really thin. It's barely covering the Earth and when you see that, you do know that it is something very precious that we need to take very good care of."

Thank you, Barbara Morgan, for being a courageous woman; a highly regarded astronaut; and a devoted teacher. This issue of Las Vegas Woman is dedicated to you.

Embrace life, community and yourself,

Tammy Shaw



Tammy Shaw, Publisher/CEO - Las Vegas Woman