• Current shuttle mission carries Baylor into space

    Col. Charles HobaughIt’s not unusual for Baylor administrators to receive requests from parents. It is unusual when that request is for a Baylor item that the parent — in this case, Col. Charles Hobaugh, commander of space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-129 mission — can take into space.

    Hobaugh (pictured) is the father of Baylor junior Stephanie Hobaugh, who naturally missed classes yesterday to watch the shuttle’s launch from Cape Canaveral. Hobaugh’s wife contacted Baylor in August on her husband’s behalf to see if he could take anything into space to represent his daughter’s school. The University naturally provided a Baylor flag that will be returned after the mission and likely displayed in Baylor’s visitor’s center.

    This isn’t the first time Baylor has been represented in space, either. Last fall, the shuttle crew awoke one morning to the song “You Are Here” by Dutton, a band comprised largely of Baylor alumni.

    Sic ’em, space shuttle astronauts!