Six Women, Four Men : Finalists Vie for Seat on the Space Shuttle

Barbara R. Morgan, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Stanford who teaches second grade in McCall, Ida., was among the 10 finalists chosen by NASA Monday in the race to become the first private citizen in space.

“I plan to take the whole country with me,” Morgan said at a news conference, having suggested that NASA set up a toll-free telephone number so people can call her with questions if she wins the coveted seat on the Jan. 22, 1986, launch of the space shuttle Challenger.

More Briefings

Chosen from an applicant field of more than 11,000 teachers, later narrowed to 114 semifinalists, the remaining six women and four men will go to the Johnson Space Center in Houston Friday for a series of briefings, medical examinations and interviews. The first astroteacher will be chosen at the end of July.

Morgan, 33, teaches at McCall-Donnelly Elementary School in McCall, Ida. She also has taught in Quito, Ecuador, and on a Montana Indian reservation, in addition to running a Red Cross swimming program.

William M. Dillon, a certified pilot who teaches problem students at Peninsula High School in San Bruno, Calif., was one of the 114 semifinalists as was Gloria McMillan, a La Jolla high school teacher, the only Southern Californian represented.

Select the Best Person

“I was very disappointed for about two hours,” McMillan said about not being chosen a finalist. “And then I started looking forward to going to India. I have a scholarship to study there and I’m leaving today.

“I’m totally committed to the space program and the quest it represents. I know they will select the person who is best able to stimulate our students and prepare them for the future.

“I was very happy to see the range of classes and the range of grade levels represented (by the 10 finalists . . . elementary school, humanities and the sciences. I thought it was wonderful.”

NASA administrator James M. Beggs said the 10 finalists “have much in common: daring, selflessness, motivation to expand educational horizons beyond the classroom, enthusiasm to communicate the space flight experience, dedication to excellence in their profession and a commitment to fire the imaginations and illuminate the talents of their pupils.”

In addition to Morgan, the other finalists are: Kathleen Beres of Baltimore, Md., Robert Foerster of West Lafayette, Ind., Judith Garcia of Alexandria, Va., Peggy Lathlaen of Friendswood, Tex., David Marquart of Boise, Ida., Sharon McAuliffe of Concord, N.H., Michael Metcalf of Hardwick, Vt., Richard Methia of New Bedford, Mass. and Niki Wenger of Parkersburg, W. Va.