Morgan: Show kids ‘adults do the right thing’

Asked what kids can learn from the space program, Barbara Morgan, teacher, retired astronaut, and current distinguished educator in residence at Boise State University, said, “What’s worth risking and what isn’t worth risking. Doing the right things when things go bad, learning from our mistakes. An example of that is after the Challenger accident when NASA asked if I would continue on the program. We had kids all over the country watching to see what adults do in a bad situation, a horrible situation, and I felt it was really important that we show them that adults do the right thing … we figure out what we did wrong, try to fix it the best we can and keep moving forward.”

She added, “I think also they can learn a lot about courage, I think courage is really contagious. They can learn about the wonders of the universe. There is so much out there, and in 50 years of space exploration, we have learned a lot, but we really know almost nothing. It’s just a place for never-ending, open-ended opportunities and possibilities.” You can read my Q-and-A with Morgan here at spokesman.com, and listen to audio from the full interview here .