DCI Interviews Barbara Morgan on 3/23/2009 (10 minutes)
Barbara Morgan Leaves NASA To Teach at Boise State University
Barbara Morgan hinted at coming back to Idaho when she spoke to the public at the Morrison Performing Arts Center this past December. Now that hint has become a reality! It was reported in the Idaho Statesman on June 20, that Barbara would be retiring from NASA and joining the faculty of Boise State University as a "Distinguished Educator In Residence." Under the umbrella of both the Education and Engineering schools at BSU, Barbara will provide guidance and advocacy for fund-raising in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math. (to view the full Idaho Statesman story, click here)
Last August (2007), Barbara concluded her 20+ year wait to fly aboard a shuttle as she lifted off on the Space Shuttle Endeavor (mission STS-118) for a successful mission to the International Space Station. While on the Space Station, Barbara hosted a 24 minute downlink, both video and audio, with the Discovery Center. Despite concerns by NASA people stationed at the Discovery Center that the downlink might have to be postponed, the event occured right on schedule and without any unplanned technical difficulties. For those who watched live on KTVB, Channel 7, or were present at the Discovery Center for the downlink event, it had an emotional impact on many who had followed Barbara's long wait to get into space. (to view the full KTVB video coverage of the downlink, click here)
The event where Barbara hinted that she might return to Idaho was her official homecoming in early December, 2007. She had a day of greeting the public at the Discovery Center, and at the Morrison Performing Arts Center, where she spoke to nearly 4,000 students and family members during her 2 presentations. The standing ovations she received showed just how much Idahoans care for her. She, too, was emotional at this spontaneous outpouring of support and appreciation. She ended her visit to Idaho with 2 days in Valley County and McCall (where she had taught elementary school before she became an Educator Astronaut), and Barbara received numerous awards and honors for her achievements. A new elementary school in McCall will have her name, and she was thrilled by the honor. (to read the NASA story on Barbara retiring from NASA, click here)
Updated on July 25, 2008
COOL NASA STUFF!
The Discovery Center has compiled a web page of links and images from the official NASA web site. The NASA site is one of the most extensive repositories of fantastic images, scientific research, glimpses into the future and educational resources to be found on the internet.
The Discovery Center will be celebrating Idaho Space Days 2008 during the week of August 4th. Space Days are our way of honoring Barbara Morgan and the significant achievements of NASA. We are also very proud of the achievements of our DCI Sponsored Teen Club Rocket Team who qualified for national rocketry competition held this past May in Virginia. The Boise team finshed 61st in a field of 100 competitors!
The Discovery Center will use this week to focus some of our programs and activities on the exploration of space. Our summer class for the week of August 4th is all about Robotics (this class is currently full) and the week will end with a full day of space related activities on Saturday, August 9th. Among the activities taking place on the 9th are:
* Replay footage from the downlink with the International Space Station in August, 2007, on our large screen TV
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Live, streaming video from the Hubble telescope in high definition
* See the constellations at one of our 2 Starlab shows
* Participate in one of our 3 planned "Journeys To The Moon"
* Watch Ray Amaya from KIDO Radio do 3 rocket launches in our parking lot
* and much more...
To keep up with our current list of activities, just bookmark our calendar page below:
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