“Please know that I am quite aware of the hazards. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.”
-Amelia Earhart, in her last letter to her husband before her last flight.
The space shuttle Endeavor launched today. Teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan is aboard the flight. When the shuttle took off, Morgan was sitting in the center seat of the cabin’s lower compartment. The same seat that teacher-astronaut Christa McAuliffe occupied aboard the shuttle Challenger when it exploded a few moments after take off in 1986.
Morgan has waited 22 years to make this flight. Just like Earhart, she’s well aware of the dangers of flight. “Space exploration is risky. … You can try your hardest, there will be a risk. It’s a hostile environment. The technology is very complex, the machinery is all very complex. … ” said Morgan.
