How Barbara Morgan is like the Monkees

Barbara Morgan: Kinda like the 5th Monkee...

In the sixties, a promoter came up with the idea of making a TV series about a (fictional) rock band—attempting to cash in on the popularity of the Beatles and other rock bands.

The Monkess—Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Englishman Davy Jones—were NOT an actual band; they were actors. In the show, they sang the songs but played no instruments.

Later, the four learned to play and performed real concerts. In fact, they continued to play after the television series ended. And much of their music did very well on the charts.

In the 1980s, Barbara Morgan came in second in NASA’s competition for a “Teacher In Space” program. She wasn’t an actual astronaut, but she trained for a space mission. Since she was a backup, she didn’t fly the mission. (The competition winner, Christa McAuliffe flew on the ill-fated Challenger mission.)

Twelve years later, Barbara Morgan qualified to become an actual astronaut. She was selected as a mission specialist and flew on STS-118. She operated the Endeavor’s robot arm to help assemble the International Space Station.

Pretty impressive stuff. I think of her as the 5th Monkee.