Words From Space Hearten Youth
A Brooklyn teen-ager says he will do his homework “a little more often” now that the shuttle commander has read one of his assignments in space.
Philip J. Morgan wrote a letter to shuttle commander Frederick H. Hauck last May as an assignment for his eighth-grade science class at St. Mark’s Catholic School.
“I am a worried 14-year-old that is worried about the future,” he wrote. “I feel that some of America’s future is riding on you and your crew’s shoulders. I give you all the inspiration I can give you because your ride this fall means so much to me.”
Hauck interrupted the crew’s schedule Saturday to read the letter. He said he hoped it would show young people that “we are back on track and we have a lot of technological benefits that will come in the future.”
Interviewed Sunday after he came in from playing football with friends, Philip, known as P. J., said Hauck had eased his fears “a lot.”
“I didn’t think he’d really read it. I didn’t think there would be enough time,” the youngster said.
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