BOISE - Idaho’s NewsChannel 7 was honored with an Emmy award from the Northwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

The award was given to reporter Alyson Oüten and photographer Gary Salzman.  The pair’s 30 minute special chronicled the mission of Idaho astronaut Barbara Morgan.  The former McCall schoolteacher traveled aboard Shuttle Endeavour for mission STS-118 in August.

The KTVB special chronicled her long journey – which began in the 1980s when Morgan was named backup to astronaut Christa McAuliffe for the Teacher in Space program.  McAuliffe died in the shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986.

KTVB’s Emmy came amid competition from programs from the Seattle and Portland markets.  NewsChannel 7 won the Boise market’s only news Emmy in a region-wide category.