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NASA scheduled a live event during the evening news timeslot so the Story of the Day was no network's lead, neither was it the result of reporting by correspondents. It consisted of footage of the liftoff of Space Shuttle Endeavour from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral seven minutes after the newscasts started: "Expanding the International Space Station while creating a classroom in space," as the NASA announcer intoned. There was no unanimity about what would have led the day's news agenda if NASA had not been given such free publicity. CBS selected the Utah coal mine for a third straight day. NBC and ABC opted for the storms that disrupted the morning rush hour in New York City.

Barbara Morgan was the reason this space flight was newsworthy. As ABC's Lisa Stark (subscription required) told us yesterday, Morgan was selected 22 years ago, along with Christa McAuliffe, as a schoolteacher in space. "The two teachers learned the ABCs of spaceflight together," CBS' Kelly Cobiella reminded us. Just 73 seconds into her spaceflight on board the Shuttle Challenger McAuliffe had been killed when the spacecraft exploded. "Morgan is actually occupying the very same seat on board," CBS anchor Katie Couric (no link) pointed out to her network's in-house space analyst Bill Harwood. CBS carried the feed of the liftoff live until that 73-second mark passed and then resumed its regular newscast. "Supersonic in less than one minute," NBC's Tom Costello marveled. "It looks like they are on their way to a safe trip in a low Earth orbit." "Great pictures," commented ABC anchor Charles Gibson to reporter Stark.

Andrew Tyndall 8/12/07 5:45:49 pm

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