I will have a one-hour program called the Mission Watch, where I will describe details of the mission and give additional information about the lessons from space.

The president felt that it was important to send an ordinary citizen to experience the excitement of space travel as a representative for all Americans.

I will have a one-hour program called the Mission Watch, where I will describe details of the mission and give additional information about the lessons from space.

Space is for everybody. It's not just for a few people in science or math, or for a select group of astronauts. That's our new frontier out there, and it's everybody's business to know about space.

My job in space will be to observe and write a journal. I am also going to be teaching a class for students on earth about life in space and on the space shuttle and conducting experiments.

Reach for it. Push yourself as far as you can.

I cannot join the space program and restart my life as an astronaut, but this opportunity to connect my abilities as an educator with my interests in history and space is a unique opportunity to fulfill my early fantasies.