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Cape Canaveral, USA : NASA’s space shuttle Endeavour blasted off Wednesday sending the first teacher into space 21 years after the Challenger explosion tragically ended the dream of another pioneering teacher.

Teacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan, 55, has become the star of the second shuttle mission to the International Space Station this year. Her chance to fly into space finally came with Endeavour’s launch at 6:36 pm (2236 GMT) Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral.

“Class is in session,” said a NASA mission control spokesman after the external fuel tank separated from the shuttle and the Endeavour entered its orbit less than nine minutes into the flight.

The shuttle is to reach the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) on Friday at 1753 GMT.

Morgan had trained alongside fellow teacher Christa McAuliffe in the 1980s as a backup for the Challenger shuttle mission.

NASA had hoped that sending a teacher into space would fire the imaginations of millions and keep up support for its shuttle program. But on January 28, 1986, Challenger exploded and broke up 73 seconds after blast-off, killing all seven aboard.

After the Challenger disaster Morgan went back to teaching, and then rejoined NASA in 1998.

Once in space she will operate robotic arms on the ISS and the shuttle to unload and install new equipment and supplies on the space station.

Endeavour is on an 11-day mission to continue the expansion of the ISS. The mission will carry a truss section about the size of a small car to extend the space station to a length of 108 metres, about the size of a football pitch.
The astronauts will also replace a defective gyroscope, one of four keeping the space station on an even keel, and install an exterior stowage platform.

NASA could prolong the mission by three days to include a fourth space walk that will allow crews to inspect for potential damage to the shuttle’s heat shield.

The US space agency has been leery of damage to shuttle heat shields since February 2003, when a broken thermal tile led to the disintegration of shuttle Columbia on re-entry, killing all seven aboard and putting the shuttle program on hold for two-and-a-half years.

NASA finally resumed ISS construction missions last year after conducting two missions aimed at improving safety.

Besides Morgan, the Endeavour crew includes US Navy Cmdr Scott Kelly, the commander; Marine Lt Col Charles Hobaugh, the copilot; Rick Mastracchio, Tracy Caldwell, Air Force Col Alvin Drew and Canadian physician Dave Williams.