John Herrington

:"Note: You may also be looking for U.S. politician John S. Herrington, or for one of several people named John Harrington"Infobox Astronaut
name =John Bennett Herrington


type =Astronaut
nationality =American
date_birth =September 14, 1958
date_death =
place_birth =Wetumka, Oklahoma
place_death =
occupation =Test pilot
rank =Commander, USN
selection =1996 NASA Group
time =13d 18h 47m [ [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/herringt.html Astronaut Bio: John Bennett Herrington (8/2005) ] ]
mission =STS-113
insignia =

John Bennett Herrington (born September 14, 1958) is an American astronaut and a veteran of one space shuttle mission. He is the first enrolled member of a Native American tribe to fly in space.

Herrington was born in Wetumka, Oklahoma. He grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Riverton, Wyoming, and Plano, Texas where he graduated from Plano Senior High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs before receiving his commission in the United States Navy in 1984. He served three deployments in the Pacific region before being assigned as a test pilot. Herrington was chosen by NASA as an astronaut candidate in 1996 and flew his first space mission in 2002 as a mission specialist aboard STS-113.

To honor his Native American heritage, Herrington, an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation, carried a Chickasaw Nation flag on his eleven-day trip. The flag had been presented to him by Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby.

Rocketplane

In September 2005, Herrington resigned from NASA to become Vice President/Director of flight Operations for Rocketplane Limited, Inc., where he replaced Mitchell Burnside Clapp. He will also serve as the pilot of the XP Spaceplane. Herrington also provides part time support for the Center for Space Studies at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

In December, 2007, Herrington resigned from Rocketplane Global, Inc. and states that he plans to continue doing public speaking engagements as well as work with the Chickasaw Nation. [cite web | url = http://newsok.com/article/3188387/1199385077 | title = Former astronaut resigns from Rocketplane | publisher = NewsOK]

Cross-Country Bike Ride

On August 13, 2008 Herrington embarked on a cross-country bicycle ride from Cape Flattery, WA to Cape Canaveral, FL dubbed Rocketrek.

His goal is to encourage students across the country to engage in math and science. Herrington will make several speaking stops at NASA Explorer schools and Indian reservations along his route, and he encourages anyone who's interested to track his ride on his website and puzzle over math questions related to the trip. Herrington is planning to finish at Cape Canaveral, FL in time to see his friend fly the next space shuttle mission.

The ride is sponsored by Pro Bike, Inc. in Oklahoma City and the Chickasaw Nation with additional support from Trek Bicycles and GEAR-UP South Dakota.

References

External links

* [http://www.rocketrek.com/ Rocketrek]
* [http://www.johnbherrington.com/ Herrington's Homepage]
* [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/herringt.html NASA Biography]
* [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/herrington_john.htm Spacefacts biography of John Herrington]
* [http://web.uccs.edu/alumni/newsletter/dec06.htm University of Colorado Alumni News]