Conference 7.286::space

77.0. "Space Shuttle Teacher McAuliffe" by PYRITE::WEAVER () Tue Sep 10 1985 19:23

Associated Press Mon 09-SEP-1985 20:01                          Space Teacher

                             By PAUL RECER
                          AP Aerospace Writer
   SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) - Christa McAuliffe, scheduled to
become the first teacher in space, on Monday met the astronauts who
will be her crewmates and began her hectic training for the January
flight of space shuttle Challenger.
   ``I still can't believe they are actually going to let me go up
in the shuttle,'' Ms. McAuliffe, a Concord, N.H., high school
teacher, said shortly after arriving at the Johnson Space Center.
   Ms. McAuliffe, 37, was introduced to mission commander Dick
Scobee and four other astronauts Monday at a meeting arranged to
plan the crew's training schedule.
   It was the first day of what National Aeronautics and Space
Administration officials said will be four weeks of classes and
practice sessions for the six-day mission.
   ``They have an extremely busy schedule,'' said Barbara Schwartz,
a NASA spokesperson.
   Included on the schedule this week are space clothing fittings;
selection of menu items for the mission; familiarization tours of
the space shuttle simulator and hours of computer-aided
instructions on how to live in space.
   Next week, Ms. McAuliffe will receive extensive training
operating space shuttle cameras.
   Earlier Monday, Ms. McAuliffe and Barbara Morgan, 33, a McCall,
Idaho, elementary teacher who is the alternate for the flight,
posed for pictures at the space center's security office, where
they received NASA flight crew identification badges.
   When a NASA security guard gave her a fistful of papers to fill
out, and Ms. McAuliffe sighed, ``I'm sure this is just the
beginning of it (paperwork).''
   Despite a roomful of television cameramen, reporters and NASA
officials who vouched for her, Ms. McAuliffe had to present her New
Hampshire driver's license to identify herself.
   Ms. McAuliffe and Mrs. Morgan were selected from thousands who
applied for NASA's Teacher in Space program.
   Ms. McAuliffe will join Scobee, pilot Mike Smith, and mission
specialists Judy Resnick, Ellison Onizuka and Ron McNair on
Challenger. The mission, set for launch Jan. 22, will include the
launch of two satellites.
   During the flight, Ms. McAuliffe is to perform experiments,
which have not yet been selected, and operate a motion picture
camera.