Baldwin teachers to get close-up view of former student's space launch

When NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli lifts off Friday from Florida's Kennedy Space Center to embark on a journey among the stars, some of her former Baldwin schoolteachers will be there for the launch.

Retired teachers Eleanor Liebmann and Ronnie Bloom are expected to look on as their "Baldwinaut" and other crew members take flight in the agency's SpaceX Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station, the school district said. Bloom taught Moghbeli in first grade and Liebmann was her reading teacher at Lenox Elementary School.

The trip to the International Space Station will be Moghbeli's first into space.

Moghbeli, the mission commander, said she's looking forward to being able to see the Earth from afar. Other astronauts have told her that it was life-changing, she said on a video post from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on X, the company previously known as Twitter. 

"It's just such a unique way to look at it and I don't know what the feelings will be, [and] what the emotions will be when I do that," she said. 

Shari Camhi, superintendent of the Baldwin Union Free School District, and Anthony Mignella, assistant superintendent for instruction, will also attend the launch.

"Jasmin has set such a wonderful example for our students and the Baldwin community with her ambition, perseverance and courage," Camhi said in a statement. 

Moghbeli, 40, born in Germany to parents who fled Iran after its 1979 revolution, considers Baldwin her hometown and has credited the school district with helping her become an astronaut.

She has previously talked with Newsday about writing a book report in school on Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to go to space in 1963. Moghbeli said she even made a makeshift astronaut costume to accompany the report.

On Friday, for NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 mission, Moghbeli will be joined by European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and Russia's Roscosmos space agency's Konstantin Borisov, NASA said.

The crew plans to conduct scientific research that will help prepare for further human space exploration, NASA said in a post on its website. More than 200 science experiments and technology demonstrations will take place during the mission, the agency said.

Moghbeli graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in aerospace engineering with information technology. She also attended the Naval Postgraduate School in California, where she obtained a master's of science.

She was also a helicopter and Marine Corps test pilot, completing more than 150 combat missions and 2,000 hours of flight time, NASA said. 

Even with her accomplishments, Moghbeli still has held Lenox Elementary School close. Newsday reported in March that she had returned, talking about her journey and working with students through different projects.

During her visit, she said that she would bring several items representing the school, including a "Lenox strong" bracelet.

"I still wake up and go, 'I can’t believe that I’m actually a NASA astronaut,' " Moghbeli said in an interview at the school.

By Tiffany Cusaac-Smith

tiffany.cusaac-smith@newsday.com@T_Cusaac

Education: Howard University 

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith came to Newsday in 2023 after being a race and history reporter at USA TODAY, where she wrote enterprise and spot articles examining how the past shapes the present. Previously, she worked as the race and justice reporter at the USA TODAY Network of New York, covering issues such as criminal justice reform, housing, environmental justice, health care and politics. At The Journal News/lohud.com in Westchester County, she covered Yonkers, the state's third-largest city. She also worked at The Associated Press in Atlanta.

Honors and Awards: Criminal justice reporting fellowship with the National Press Foundation;  New York News Publishers Association award for distinguished investigative reporting;  Contributed reporting for Best of Gannett honor; Member of Table Stakes, a program funded by the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and managed by the American Press Institute to transform local news.