Teacher-Astronaut Adjusts to Life in Space

Teacher-turned-spaceflyer Barbara Morgan is adjusting to life in Earth orbit after her 22-year wait to reach space.

"It's great being up here," Morgan said late Thursday via a space-to-ground video link. "We've been working really hard, but it's a really good, fun kind of work."

Morgan, 55, launched into space Wednesday aboard the NASA's shuttle Endeavour with her six STS-118 crewmates en route to the International Space Station (ISS). The astronauts are delivering cargo, spare parts and a new starboard-side piece of the station's main truss.

Set for a 1:53 p.m. EDT (1753 GMT) arrival at the ISS today, Morgan and her crewmates spent much of Thursday scanning Endeavour's heat shield for signs of damage. The teacher-astronaut is also carrying 10 million cinnamon basil seeds aboard the shuttle for later distribution to schools on Earth and hopes to hold at least one, and up to three, video sessions with students during her flight.

A former McCall, Idaho, elementary school teacher, Morgan first joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1985 when she was selected as the backup for the agency's first Teacher in Space Christa McAuliffe. McAuliffe, a New Hampshire high school teacher, was killed along with six crewmates aboard the space shuttle Challenger just after launch in 1986.

NASA recalled Morgan to its spaceflying ranks in 1998 as a full-fledged astronaut, assigning her to the STS-118 crew in late 2002. But Morgan and NASA weathered a second shuttle tragedy, the 2003 Columbia accident, before finally the former schoolteacher finally launched into space.

"It takes some getting used to," Morgan said Thursday of life in weightlessness, adding that her first say in orbit offered an odd sensation. "All of yesterday, even though I kept my head upright so it looked like a normal ceiling and a normal floor and normal walls, I felt like I was upside down the whole time."

Keeping track of things when everything is floating free of gravity's tug is also a challenge, she added.

"Even if it has Velcro on it, you set it aside and within 30 seconds it's gone and you have no idea where it went to," Morgan said. "So we've got a lot of good challenges up here and we'll be playing some treasure hunts."

NASA is broadcasting Endeavour's STS-118 mission live on NASA TV. Click here for mission updates and SPACE.com's NASA TV feed.

• VIDEO: Teaching the Future: Teacher-Astronaut Barbara Morgan
• VIDEO: Endeavour's STS-118 Mission Profile
• Complete Space Shuttle Mission Coverage