posted 12-08-2019 12:45 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
I hope to talk to Spinney directly...

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The account of Spinney flying on Challenger was cited in The Washington Post's obituary:

Such was the appeal of Big Bird that NASA asked Mr. Spinney to fly into orbit in costume, to interest young people in space exploration. Mr. Spinney agreed to go, but it was ultimately determined that the space shuttle was too small to accommodate the Big Bird suit. A New Hampshire teacher, Christa McAuliffe, went in his stead and was killed along with the rest of the crew when the Challenger shuttle exploded in 1986.