The Associated Press reports space shuttle Endeavour rocketed to space Wednesday, carrying teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan, who after more than two decades is finally carrying out the dream of Christa McAuliffe and the rest of the fallen Challenger crew.

Alaskan Girl
http://alaskan-girl.blogspot.com/2007/08/thrill-of-escape.html says, “Instead of Challenger, we have Endeavour. This is the first mission it has flown in 4 years, and my nerves tense at report of cracked piece of insulating foam (the downfall of Columbia)...but the flight was not stalled.”

Once Endeavour was safely past the 73-second mark of the flight, the moment when Challenger exploded shortly after the call "Go at throttle up," Mission Control exclaimed, "Morgan racing toward space on the wings of a legacy."

When the shuttle reached orbit, Mission Control announced, "For Barbara Morgan and her crewmates, class is in session.”

****

Officials in Utah say rescue crews are struggling to drill two narrow holes — one just 2 1/2 inches across, the other less than 9 inches — in a painfully slow effort to bring air and food to six miners trapped in a cave-in.

The Associated Press reports the crews drilling the two parallel relief holes made encouraging progress Wednesday and could break through by Friday.

"I consider this to be very, very good news," he said. But it could take at least seven days to actually reach the men and bring them out," said Bob Murray chairman of mine co-owner Murray Energy Corp.

Anneke http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=9163353&... writes, "What about the miners?

BBC worldservice reported about six miners trapped in a mine in Utah. I switchet to CNN because I wanted to know more about it. Nothing. The Bejing Olympic party and North-South Korean talks. I looked at CNN website. Still nothing.
I found more on the LA Times.
I also found information about what happened on august 8th 1974. Nixon announced his step down.
That day, I was in France, in the Provence. Mirabel au Baronnies, Vaison la Romaine, Aras, Nyons.. We had corn, stolen from the fields and roasted above a fire in the night, with local wine. And there was a wedding. A Flemish woman and a French wine farmer. A simple wedding, compared to the complicated weddings people have in the US."

Anastice http://anastice.wordpress.com/2007/08/08/12/ says, "This morning, while watching the news over my first cup of coffee for the day, I was harshly reminded that I have no right to complain about anything lacking in my life."