Shuttle Transportation System (STS) Mission 118
Space Shuttle Endeavour's STS-118 mission is the 22nd shuttle flight to the International Space Station. It will continue space station construction by delivering a third starboard truss segment.
Like all shuttle missions, STS-118 is about the future: putting the International Space Station a step closer to completion and gathering experience that will help people return to the moon and go on to Mars.
But this mission also will see a two decade-old dream realized and a vision of inspiration completed. Twenty-two years after first being selected as Christa McAuliffe’s backup in the Teacher in Space Project, Barbara Morgan will strap into space shuttle Endeavour as a fully-trained astronaut. She is one of five mission specialists in the seven-member crew.
“The mission has lots of angles,” Matt Abbott, lead shuttle flight director, said. “There’s a little bit of assembly; there’s some resupply; there’s some repairs. And there are some high-visibility education and public affairs events. It’s a little bit of everything.”
NASA Project Ideas
NASA has provided an extensive list of ideas for K-12 participants in the STS-118 Educational Initiative. Participating teachers may select from the list or let their imaginations run wild and make up their own. If they make up their own, let NASA know about it!
Click here to view the complete list of NASA's project ideas: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/stseducation/materials/index.html (this includes the Plant Growth Design Challenge below)
Plant Growth Design Challenge
Click on Image to View Flier | Engineering Design Challenge Plant Growth Chamber During the 2007-2008 school year, join NASA's Engineering Design Challenge to design, analyze, build, and assess plant growth chambers as part of a standards-based activity related to the STS-118 space shuttle mission. Growth chambers, much like the space plant chambers students will design and build, are part of the education payload on STS-118. The first Educator Astronaut, Barbara Morgan, and her fellow crewmates will take up two growth chambers along with 10 million basil seeds. These seeds will be exposed to microgravity and brought back to Earth to be used in classrooms throughout the nation. Space Garden Introduction 
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Related Websites and Resources
Gallery of Selected STS-118 Official Photos
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STS-118 Poster | 
Mission Specialist Barbara Morgan Teacher Astronaut Corps |
STS-118 Crew Members | 
Barbara with some students at NASA Johnson Space Flight Center |
 Holding a class at NASA |  Classes at NASA can include video conferences - across the world or with astronauts in space |
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