Teachers -- and kids -- in Space!

Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger is currently aboard the International Space Station, overseeing some much-needed repairs to the coolest damn thing we've put in space so far. Yes, I think the ISS is much cooler than lots of the other instruments that we've got floating about; it not only does science, it does it with people inside.

Metcalf-Lindenburger's job is to oversee the space-walking work done by fellow astronauts Clayton Anderson and Rick Mastracchio, watching them on camera as they use prybars to remove things from the outside of the station, and try really really hard not to accidentally propel themselves out into space with no hope of a rescue. It's gotta be kind of tense.

After the spacewalkers were back inside, one of them joked, ''Of course, she's a former teacher, so we do exactly what she tells us, otherwise she might rap our hands with a ruler.'' That prompted a big laugh from Metcalf-Lindenburger, one of only a few educator-astronauts.

Metcalf-Lindenburger taught middle school Earth and Space Science for five years before being selected for the educator-astronaut program. Besides being a damn fine teacher, she's also a published geological researcher, and a marathon runner. And there's not a whole lot else that I can find out about her. She's clearly impressive -- they don't let just anybody be an astronaut -- and hopefully, she'll write a book sometime soon.

As a reminder, this is one of the last missions of the Space Shuttle program, and the Constellation program has been nixed. Future American-based human space flight will be done by private corporations, if it is done at all. NASA astronauts will be hitch-hiking for the foreseeable future.

This is sad.

But, if it's the end of American dominance in space exploration, it's certainly not the end of human space exploration. Japan, India, and the European Union all have vibrant space programs, and I'm excited about the prospect of commercial space flight.

But what will they tell the Space Camp kids? One of the details I could find about Metcalf-Lindenburger is that she attended Space Camp in 1989. I'm sure that Space Camp helped provide the fuel to sustain her interest in earth and space science through high school and college, and motivated her to try out for the Educator-Astronaut program. But what do you tell the Space Camp kids if there's no American boat for them to get on to wade out a bit in the water?

The U.S. does have a human relations problem in science. We don't produce enough scientists, and we have a hard time enticing students to science careers. Not to mention the fact that we just don't teach science very well. Kids not being able to see themselves growing up to be an astronaut is another bit of the bridge crumbling. So if you're upset about the space program dying -- if you're worried about the future of American Space Flight, please do me one favor. The next time a kid tells you that she wants to be an astronaut when she grows up, don't twist your mouth in a sour face and say "America doesn't have astronauts anymore."

Give her a big smile and say, "That sounds like a wonderful idea."